Two days after the election, Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to wipe out every death sentence in California, including those of some of the state’s most notorious killers.
Story Snapshot
- Newsom moved to change all 548 California death sentences to life in prison without parole.
- He said “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values.”
- 382 of the cases need the California Supreme Court’s sign-off before he can act.
- Prosecutors and victims’ families say he is overriding juries and judges.
What Newsom Ordered And Who It Affects
On Thursday, November 5, Newsom announced in an open letter that he will commute, or reduce, the death sentence of every one of the 548 people on California’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values,” he wrote. He also called the system “a failure” that “has resulted in the conviction of innocent people,” and he cited racial disparities. Newsom is term-limited and leaves office in January.
The list includes some of the worst crimes in state history. Richard Allen Davis was sentenced to death for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Marcus Wesson killed nine members of his own family in Fresno in 2004. Rex Allan Krebs kidnapped, raped and murdered two young women, Rachel Newhouse and Aundria Crawford, in San Luis Obispo County. Vincent Brothers killed five family members, three of them children, in Bakersfield in 2003. Under Newsom’s plan, all of them would spend the rest of their lives in prison instead of facing execution.
Limits, Legal Hurdles, And What Comes Next
The move does not erase any conviction, and it does not repeal the death penalty. Capital punishment stays legal in California for future cases. Newsom can act on his own for 166 of the prisoners. The other 382, about 70 percent, have more than one felony conviction. Under the state constitution, the governor can reduce their sentences only if at least four of the seven justices on the California Supreme Court recommend it. Newsom asked the court to act by the end of 2026, according to reports. The court’s review is narrow and looks at whether the governor abused his power.
The move builds on what Newsom did in March 2019, when he halted executions and closed the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. That order left the sentences in place. California has not executed anyone since January 2006. Voters turned down measures to end the death penalty in 2012 and again in 2016, and in 2016 they approved Proposition 66, which aimed to speed up death penalty appeals.
Victims, Prosecutors, And The Cost To Families
Polly Klaas’s father, Marc Klaas, called the decision a “knife in the back” to victims’ families. “Baby killers, cop killers, spree killers and serial killers have all found an ally in Gavin Newsom,” he said. Newsom wrote that the decision was among the hardest of his career and that it may reopen pain for victims’ families. “As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact,” he wrote.
Prosecutors across the state lined up against him. “This is a sickening abuse of power,” said San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, who named Krebs among the cases. Jeannine Pacioni, president of the California District Attorneys Association, said, “With the stroke of a pen, Governor Newsom has disregarded the decisions of hundreds of jurors and judges.” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, “You cannot have crime without punishment.” Rep. Vince Fong, a California Republican, pointed to the timing: “Gavin Newsom waited until two days after the election to overrule 548 death sentences. That is political cowardice.” The American Civil Liberties Union welcomed the move.
Why This Matters Beyond California
Newsom’s move is the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history. Critics say it sets aside sentences that juries handed down and courts upheld, and it does so through one governor’s power rather than a vote of the people or the Legislature. Voters have twice chosen to keep the death penalty.
For families who sat through years of trials and appeals, the sentences their loved ones’ killers received are about to change without their say. “They deserved more than learning through a public announcement,” said Greg Totten, who leads the state’s district attorneys association. The California Supreme Court will have the final word on 382 of the cases.
Sources:
time.com, abcnews.com, themarshallproject.org, nytimes.com, gvwire.com, bbc.com, berkeleyside.org
