Newsom Weighs Commuting California’s Entire Death Row
A mass commutation would cut U.S. death-row numbers by more than a quarter because California holds a disproportionate share of death sentences.
Overview
- Gov. Gavin Newsom is publicly considering commuting roughly 564 death sentences to life without parole before he leaves office, a move advocates and international rights groups strongly urge.
- California currently holds about 546 men and 18 women under sentence of death, which makes the state responsible for about one-quarter of U.S. death-row cases.
- Legal limits mean Newsom cannot unilaterally change many cases because the California Supreme Court must approve commutations for people convicted of multiple felonies.
- The state spends about $200 million a year on capital-case legal costs and some county prosecutors have continued to seek and win death sentences since the 2019 moratorium.
- Any commutation would reshape lives by ending execution risk for hundreds of people and could prompt legal challenges, shifts in county prosecution practices, and renewed debate over racial and geographic disparities in capital sentencing.