California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 inmates on the state’s death row, effectively emptying it years after he imposed an executive moratorium on executions.
The sweeping executive action converts every death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Newsom, a Democrat, presented [1] the decision as a response to what he described as a fundamentally flawed and error-prone capital punishment system.
“After nearly 30 years in public office, I have come to understand the limits of what government can justly accomplish,” Newsom wrote in a letter to constituents.
“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 governor added.
California has not carried out an execution since 2006. Shortly after taking office in 2019, Newsom placed an official moratorium on executions and ordered officials to dismantle the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison.
You wanna know who Gavin Newsom just commuted on California’s death row?
Lemme tell you…
Richard Allen Davis, who broke into a 12-year-old’s house during a slumber party, kidnapped Polly Klaas at knifepoint, raped her, and strangled her.
Isauro Aguirre, who spent months torturing 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, beating him, shooting him with a BB gun, forcing him to eat cat feces, and locking him in a cabinet before ultimately beating him to death.
Alejandro Avila, who snatched 5-year-old Samantha Runnion off the street, raped her, and murdered her.
Cary Stayner, the Yosemite handyman who murdered three women and a teenage girl in 1999, including beheading one of his victims.
Charles Ng, convicted of killing 11 people, including men, women, and two infants, alongside Leonard Lake in the 1980s.
Lonnie Franklin Jr., the “Grim Sleeper,” convicted of murdering multiple women in Los Angeles over several decades. Investigators believe the actual body count is higher.
Scott Peterson, who murdered his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son in 2002, dumping her body in the San Francisco Bay.
Wayne Adam Ford, the truck driver who strangled and dismembered at least four women before showing up at a sheriff’s station with a severed breast in his pocket.
Joseph Naso, the “Alphabet Killer,” convicted of murdering four women with matching initials between 1977 and 1994.
Christopher Cheary, convicted of raping, torturing, and murdering his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter, Sophia Acosta.
And these are just some of the inmates.
Newsom called this a “righteous action.”
Righteous for whom? Because I guarantee you the victims’ families don’t see it that way.
— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) November 6, 2026 [2]
His latest move comes amid renewed national discussion about capital punishment following a botched execution in Tennessee involving death row inmate Christa Pike. In California, however, the mass commutation immediately angered advocates for victims and their families.
Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered in 1993 when she was 12, sharply criticized Newsom’s decision. Her killer, Richard Allen Davis, remains on death row and was among those affected by the governor’s action.
“He just gave the gift of life to [hundreds of] people who took the gift of life from their victims,” Klaas told Fox News Digital. “I don’t understand his rationale behind it… but it’s probably the same old tired stuff that he said when he did his moratorium.”
Klaas followed that criticism with a pointed jab at the Democratic governor. “He has definitely secured the serial killer vote now,” he said.
Opponents of the death penalty praised Newsom, including Rev. Jeff Hood, a spiritual adviser to death row inmates. “Today, Governor Newsom has courageously chosen to break that silence. These commutations represent the height of moral leadership,” Hood said in a statement reported by The Sacramento Bee.
Hood also urged governors in other states that conduct executions to follow Newsom’s example. His support stood in stark contrast to the reaction from prosecutors and victims’ advocates who said the governor had disregarded juries, voters and families devastated by murder.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman emphasized that Newsom’s executive action does not remove capital punishment from California law. “Only the Legislature or the voters can do that,” Hochman said in a statement.
“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,” Hochman added. He said his office would continue evaluating every case eligible for the death penalty with rigor, care and restraint until the law changes.
Hochman said those decisions would remain guided by the facts, law and evidence. He also said his thoughts were with victims’ families, who deserve a justice system that honors written law while pursuing fairness and due process.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow framed Newsom’s order as an insult to murder victims and their families. He named Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford and Kesha Gurke while arguing that the governor had placed the lives of California’s 548 condemned killers above those of their victims.
Dow said juries chose justice on an individual basis and that voters chose the death penalty five times. He characterized Newsom as an outgoing governor attempting to erase those decisions with the stroke of a pen.
California voters have repeatedly supported keeping capital punishment. In 2016, they rejected Proposition 62, which sought to repeal the death penalty, while narrowly approving Proposition 66, a measure intended to expedite the appeals process.
Newsom’s order spares every inmate currently under a death sentence, but it leaves the underlying law intact. Unless lawmakers or voters abolish capital punishment, prosecutors such as Hochman can continue considering it in the most serious eligible cases.