Newsom Plans to Replace All 548 California Death Sentences With Life Without Parole
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he plans to commute every California death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His office announced the proposal in an open letter to Californians.
By the Bay Area Brief staff · Edited by Seamus McKenna · · 2 min read
California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: Andre m / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped, resized and color-graded). Archive photo of the area; not a photo of the events in this story.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he plans to commute every California death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His office announced the proposal in an open letter to Californians.
The move is not yet fully implemented. The San Francisco Standard reported that 382 cases require a recommendation from the California Supreme Court because the prisoners have more than one felony conviction. At least four justices must agree. Newsom requested recommendations by the end of the year, before he leaves office.
Newsom imposed an execution moratorium in 2019 and later closed San Quentin’s death-row wing. This proposal would go further, changing the sentences themselves. It would not repeal capital punishment in state law. “As governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact,” he wrote.
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