Gavin Newsom Commutes All 548 California Death Sentences to Life Without Parole

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on November 5, 2026, that he is commuting all 548 death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Newsom wrote in an open letter to residents that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of the legal system, and diminishes each person. He said the decision follows nearly three decades of opposing executions as an elected official. California has the largest death-row population in the United States, accounting for roughly a quarter of all such sentences nationwide. The state's last execution occurred in 2006. Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, shortly after taking office.

The Death Penalty Information Center described the action as the largest mass clemency in American history. It reduces the national death-row population by nearly 30 percent, leaving approximately 1,388 people under death sentence across the country, the lowest total since 1984. California has spent an estimated $6 billion on the death penalty since its reinstatement in 1978 and carried out 13 executions in that period.

California law requires the state Supreme Court to review clemency grants for prisoners with more than one felony conviction. That requirement applies to 382 of the 548 cases. Four of the seven justices must approve those commutations. The remaining 166 cases can proceed under the governor's authority without further court action. The governor's office stated that the affected prisoners include 529 men and 19 women. The sentences do not make anyone eligible for parole, and the prisoners are excluded from new Board of Parole Hearings regulations on commutation and resentencing.

Among those whose sentences are affected are Randy Kraft, Charles Ng, and Richard Allen Davis. Davis was convicted of the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Some victims' relatives have criticized the decision. Polly Klaas's father condemned the plan. Other family members, including a step-sister of Klaas, welcomed the outcome. Anne Marie Schubert, chief executive of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and a former prosecutor, said her group would challenge the proposed commutations in the Supreme Court.

Newsom said he consulted survivors of crime, victims' families, public-safety experts, community leaders, prison officials, and jurors who had served in capital cases. The action comes in the final months of his term, which ends in January 2027. He is widely viewed as considering a presidential run in 2028. The commutations do not repeal the death penalty in California; they apply only to current sentences.

The Supreme Court review for the majority of cases will determine how many of the 548 commutations become final before Newsom leaves office. If the court rejects any, those sentences remain in place. The process does not require legislative action. No executions have been scheduled in California since the 2019 moratorium, and none are pending under the current order.

The announcement coincides with scheduled executions in other states. Florida, Alabama, and Indiana had lethal injections set for the same week. Newsom's order applies only within California. The practical effect is that no person currently on the state's death row will be executed under a death sentence issued before the commutation, provided the required court approvals are obtained.