Gov. Gavin Newsom Erases California’s Death Row

Gov. Gavin Newsom has wiped out California’s death row, sparing the lives of 528 inmates facing the death penalty and erasing nearly one-fourth of the nation’s death sentences.

Newsom exercised his constitutional clemency authority to commute the death sentences to the most severe punishment he can lawfully impose: life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“These offenders will die in prison but not by our hand,” Newsom said. “I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us.”

In making the decision, Newsom said he spoke with many victims and family members of those affected by crimes committed by the incarcerated individuals whose sentences were commuted.

The governor has long opposed the death penalty, calling it “unfair, unjust, wasteful” in an executive order signed in 2019. The order imposed a moratorium on all executions, withdrew the state’s lethal injection protocol and closed San Quentin’s execution chamber.

Following the order, Newsom was commended by several notable politicians, including Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra and former Vice President and California resident Kamala Harris.

“This is an important day for justice and for the state of California,” Harris said in a statement. “I applaud Governor Newsom for his decision to place a moratorium on the death penalty.”

Before the state’s death row was eliminated, Becerra had already committed to maintaining Newsom’s moratorium on capital punishment.

California has not executed a death row inmate since 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen, a gang leader who ordered killings that resulted in multiple deaths, was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.

In 2022, under Newsom’s leadership, the state began shifting away from traditional death row incarceration. San Quentin State Prison transitioned into a rehabilitation center aimed at helping incarcerated individuals through education and job training. According to the prison’s website, San Quentin offers programs such as San Quentin News, podcasts and community partnerships with organizations including the Giants and Warriors.

“California is transforming San Quentin – the state’s most notorious prison with a dark past – into the nation’s most innovative rehabilitation facility focused on building a brighter and safer future,” Newsom said at the time.

San Quentin’s East Block was formerly used to house death row inmates but has since been converted into “Honor Dorms,” where incarcerated individuals with positive track records can pursue greater leadership opportunities and responsibilities within the prison.

While Newsom said he took the concerns of affected families into consideration, the governor has previously faced criticism from victims and their families throughout his time in office.

Susan Oliver, whose husband, Sacramento County sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver, was murdered in 2014, has been vocal in her opposition to the governor’s prison reforms. In a 2019 statement to KCRA, Oliver said Californians should be the ones to decide what happens to the state’s convicted murderers.

“I’d challenge the governor,” she said. “If he is unable to sit and listen to all of these victims and hear the crimes and how it’s affected our lives, then he has no right to make this decision on his own. None.”

Oliver criticized the governor for focusing on perpetrators rather than victims.

Conversely, Aba Gayle, a California resident whose daughter was murdered, met with the governor and told the Los Angeles Times she was grateful for his 2019 decision to halt executions.

“What I say is, ‘Don’t murder someone in my name,’ it does nothing to benefit my daughter, it won’t bring anybody back,” Gayle told the Times.

Gayle took time to process the grief and anger that came with losing her daughter before eventually visiting and befriending her daughter’s killer.

Newsom described commuting the death sentences as one of the most “difficult” decisions he has made in his career, acknowledging the pain it could cause victims’ families. The governor said he respects those who disagree with his decision but ultimately believes California is stronger for rejecting state-sanctioned killings.

“This will always weigh heavily on me,” Newsom wrote. “As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution.”

According to the governor’s office, victim advocates are working to notify all victims and survivors affected by the order. Services will also be available to provide families with support.

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