California's Newsom to commute all death sentences to life in prison without parole

The California Constitution vests the governor with the authority to grant clemency, including commutations of sentence and pardons.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute every California death sentence to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The governor, who is in his final term and considering a run for the White House, said in an open letter to Californians posted on his office's website that the decision was among the most difficult of his political career.

“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values," Newsom said.

The California Constitution vests the governor with the authority to grant clemency, including commutations of sentence and pardons.

The move would affect the sentences of more than 500 state prisoners awaiting executives in California. Some cases will require court approval, but others need only Newsom's order.

California has not executed a prisoner since Jan. 17, 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen was put to death by lethal injection. Newsom has long opposed the death penalty and issued a moratorium on the practice in California in 2019.

Victims who are registered with California's Office of Victims and Survivor Rights and Services will be notified when commutations go into effect, Newsom's office said.

“As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution,” Newsom wrote.

Under the state's constitution, the California Supreme Court’s approval is needed to grant clemency to anyone convicted of a felony more than once. That means nearly 400 of the commutations would require court approval.

Of the 548 people on death row in California, 529 are men and 19 are women, according to Newsom's office.

Californians have consistently voted to uphold the death penalty when asked about the matter in elections.

In 2012, a statewide ballot measure to repeal capital punishment as the maximum punishment for people found guilty of murder was rejected by voters. If approved, Prop 34 would have made life in prison without possibility of parole the maximum penalty.

In 2016, there were two competing measures on the statewide ballot. Prop 62, which would have repealed the death penalty, was defeated. Prop 66, passed by voters, kept the death penalty and set time limits on legal challenges.

The outgoing governor will be succeed by Democrat Xavier Becerra, who defeated Republican businessman Steve Hilton in the November election. Becerra will be sworn in at a ceremony in January.

Other governors have granted broad clemency to all death row prisoners in their states, including Gov. Kate Brown in Oregon in 2022 and Gov. Jared Polis in Colorado in 2020. In 2024, President Joe Biden also granted clemency to 37 out of 40 federal prisoners sentenced to death.

In a statement, Los Angeles County's top prosecutor drew a distinction between Newsom's move to commute sentences and existing state law on capital punishment.

"When I took the oath of office, I swore to enforce all of California's laws as enacted by the Legislature and the voters," Nathan Hochman said. "The Governor has chosen to commute existing death sentences to life without the possibility of parole, as is within his constitutional power. But that power does not extend to eliminating the death penalty. Only the Legislature or the voters can do that. Californians have been asked on two separate ballot initiatives to abolish the death penalty and both times they have chosen to keep it for the most serious crimes.

"Until the law is changed, my office will continue to evaluate every death penalty-eligible case with the rigor, care and restraint these decisions demand. As always, we will be guided by the facts, the law and the evidence. If the Legislature or the voters remove the death penalty, we will follow that law just as faithfully. My thoughts today are with the families of victims, who deserve a justice system that honors the law as it is written and pursues it with fairness and due process."

The announcement drew swift reaction from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who described it as "mercy for the wolves."

"Governor Gavin Newsom’s commutation of the death sentences of all 548 condemned inmates in California is mercy for the wolves and while inflicting the ultimate act of cruelty on the sheep," Spitzer said. "You cannot have crime without punishment, and in those instances in which the crimes committed are so heinous that death is the only appropriate punishment, I, as the elected District Attorney of Orange County, have, and will, continue to pursue the death penalty."

This story originally appeared on NBCLosAngeles.com.