California's death row has not been emptied yet. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, Nov. 5, commuted the death sentences of all 548 people condemned in the state to life in prison without parole, but most of those decisions cannot take effect without approval from the California Supreme Court.
For prisoners who have been convicted of more than one felony, state law requires at least four of the court's seven justices to sign off on a governor's clemency. CalMatters reported that nearly 400 of the 548 commutations fall into that category. That review is now the main arena for opponents.
The decision
Newsom, who imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019 and had the San Quentin execution chamber dismantled, announced the commutations in an open letter to Californians. He wrote that he had concluded "state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values." He said he had weighed commuting only some sentences but decided that sorting among cases would create "two classes of murder victims."
The governor also said the people whose sentences he commuted will not be eligible for the newer parole board commutation and resentencing rules, a point aimed at critics who feared the change could eventually lead to releases. California's last execution was in 2006. Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra has said he would keep the moratorium in place, CalMatters reported.
The Death Penalty Information Center calls the action the largest mass clemency in U.S. history. The 548 prisoners make up more than a quarter of the condemned inmates nationwide, according to CalMatters.
Opposition
The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based group that advocates for crime victims, has pledged to challenge the commutations before the Supreme Court. Its chief executive, former prosecutor Anne Marie Schubert, told CalMatters that victims' families were not notified in advance and called the decision a "grotesque violation of victims' rights."
