Gov. Newsom commutes sentences of California's 548 death row inmates

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced he's commuting all death sentences in California, changing the state's 548 death row inmates' sentences to life without the possibility of parole. 

The governor said that while many Californians may believe people who commit brutal crimes deserve to die, the state "cannot morally kill them."

Death row sentences commuted

What they're saying:

"I have decided to exercise my constitutional clemency authority to commute all California death sentences to life without the possibility of parole," Newsom said in a letter shared Thursday. "After nearly 30 years in public office, I have come to understand the limits of what government can justly accomplish. 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."

The commutation comes seven years after Newsom placed a moratorium on executions in California.

Newsom said the decision to commute death row inmates' sentences was "among the most difficult" in his career.

The governor said a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is the most severe punishment California can "ethically enforce."

"This action will bring to a close these capital cases, some of which have been languishing in the courts for more than 40 years," Gov. Newsom said. "I acknowledge that this finality may bring comfort to some victims, but finality is not closure, something many victims have told me they never experience after a shattering crime."

Newsom shared on his podcast last month that he was considering commuting prisoners' death sentences before leaving office. He will leave office in January when Xavier Becerra becomes governor following this week's election.

Newsom hinted at possible commutation in October

Dig deeper:

On the podcast, the governor mentioned the botched execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike, who received lethal injections twice – but lived.

"I have to prepare for my own consciousness test, my own rocking chair test," Newsom said in October. "Do I commute the largest death row in the western hemisphere?"

The prospect of a blanket commutation drew sharp pushback last month from death penalty advocates. 

Reaction

What they're saying:

Representatives from Crime Victims United expressed outrage over the possibility of overturning outcomes reached through the judicial process.

"We are absolutely disgusted that this governor would be contemplating and most likely doing the commutation of people that are on death row when a judge and a jury have decided that that is the penalty," said Topo Padilla of Crime Victims United.

Padilla suggested Newsom's comments were driven by political ambition rather than legal or moral principles.

In an interview with KTVU, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe also used the word "disgust."

"His focus is entirely 100% on the people who committed the crime," Wagstaffe said. "And he's not thinking of the victims' families. A total of 548 people, they're there because one or more victims existed in every case where somebody terminated a life. "
Specifically, Wagstaffe said that in 2016, California voters rejected a repeal on the death penalty. And so for Newsom to unilaterally make this decision, he said, is wrong.

"And what this does is that says, I'm throwing that aside because of my personal belief,'" Wagstaffe said. "I have trouble with that if we are truly a democracy. And I don't fault a governor if he has a case in mind. But to sweep with the broad brush that occurred here, that bothers me. I don't think that's democracy at work." 

Meanwhile, the ACLU on Thursday praised the move, saying the commutations mark an end "to a system that conflicts with human dignity, fairness, and the values enshrined in our Constitution."

"These commutations reflect what justice demands: an end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "By taking this step, Gov. Newsom has affirmed that the death penalty has no place in California and he showed real courage by confronting racialized injustice head-on."

Democratic strategist Dan Newman, who advises the governor, said Newsom has remained consistent through the years in his opposition to the death penalty. 

"He listened to victims, studied what actually makes us safer, and did what he knew was right," Newman said.

He noted that eliminating the death sentence is not lenient by any means.

"Life without parole is hardly leniency. It means dying in prison, and in obscurity without the newsy spectacles of execution dates, candlelight vigils, and last meals," Newman said.

Last execution in California was in 2006

The backstory:

The last person to be executed in California was Clarence Ray Allen, an inmate at San Quentin State Prison who died by lethal injection on Jan. 17, 2006. He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances in 1982.

Bay Area death row inmates

By the numbers:

The Bay Area has sentenced 50 people who are currently on death row, according to the CDCR. The corrections department sorts condemned inmates by the county where their trial occurred. Trials for the following inmates occurred in Bay Area counties.

Among the death row inmates – Richard Farley, who killed seven people in a mass shooting in Sunnyvale in 1988, Robert Fairbanks, convicted of torturing and killing a San Francisco State University student in 1985 and Yosemite serial killer Cary Stayner.

• Alberto Alvarez
• Robert Bacon
• James Beck
• Erven Blacksher
• Steven Bonilla
• Nathan Burris
• Celeste Carrington
• Gerald Cruz
• Tomas Cruz
• James Daveggio
• Rick Davis
• Alex Demolle
• Christopher Evans
• Robert Fairbanks
• Richard Farley
• Melvin Forte
• Robert Frazier
• Jack Friend
• Alexander Hamilton
• Glenn Helzer
• Christopher Henriquez
• Eric Houston
• Laverne Johnson
• Willie Johnson
• Keith Lewis
• Bobby Lopez
• Delaney Marks
• Jarvis Masters
• Michelle Michaud
• Douglas Mickey
• Desiree Mickle
• Carl Molano
• Giles Nadey
• Joseph Naso
• Michael Pearson
• Irving Ramirez
• Guy Rowland
• Ramon Salcido
• John Sapp
• Robert Scully
• Christopher Spencer
• Cary Stayner
• Charles Stevens
• Arturo Suarez
• Alex Thomas
• John Travis
• Darnell Washington
• Corey Williams
• Grayland Winbush
• Edward Wycoff

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