Families of those killed by death row inmates react to California Gov. Gavin Newsom commuting their sentences to life in prison.

On Thursday, 56 years after Rockefeller did so, Newsom moved to grant clemency to all 548 prisoners on California’s death row, reducing their sentences to life without parole and bringing about the largest mass commutation in U.S. history.

“The death penalty is a flawed, expensive, and error-filled practice that fails us all,” said Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson, urging other elected officials to follow the California governor’s lead.

The governor altered the sentences of people facing the death penalty to lifetime imprisonment without parole.

Outgoing California Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted the death sentences of all 561 of the state’s Death Row inmates Nov. 5 and the Democrat’s long-expected move inspired death abolitionists nationwide. “We are grateful that Gov. Newsom, like other Republican and Democratic... The post Newsom commutes all 561 Death Row…

For generations, California has understood itself as a place willing to wrestle with hard questions, especially when human dignity is at stake. By commuting all of California’s death sentences to life imprisonment, Gov. Gavin Newsom has shown he is unafraid... The post Newsom has shown us holy imagination by clearing…

Gavin Newsom reminded everyone that he’s still the governor on Thursday when he handed down a historic commutation of every California death sentence. We have more on that below. It was a big day in Los Angeles, too, where the city ousted Mayor Karen Bass and elected democratic socialist Nithya Raman. Come along with…

The ACLU applauded the move, citing racial bias in the death penalty’s implementation.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to spare the lives of all 548 prisoners on the state’s death row on Thursday in the largest mass commutation of death sentences in modern American history.

San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif., in 2019. Newsom moved to spare the lives of all 548 prisoners on the state’s death row on Thursday.

These 568 people will now serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As one of his final acts in office, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has commuted the sentences of all 548 people sentenced to death in California to life without the possibility of parole—a quarter of the death row prisoners in the United States—he announced in a November 5 letter. California has not executed anyone…

Under the California Constitution, more than two-thirds of the proposed commutations to life sentences without the possibility of parole will require an OK from the state's high court.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday that he would commute the sentences of every death row inmate in his state to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The post Newsom Declares Death Penalty ‘Incompatible With California’s Values,’ Commutes All of State’s Death Sentences to Life in Prison…

If approved by the California Supreme Court, the number of people sentenced to death nationwide would drop by nearly a third.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today that he was moving to commute all death sentences in California, marking a historic step towards ending the death penalty in California and across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of San Diego &…

Among the most notorious convicted killers on death row are Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an event in San Francisco on Nov. 9, 2023. (Jeff Chiu / AP) Gov. Gavin Newsom is commuting the death sentences of 548 people, clearing the California death row for the first time since the state conducted hangings in the late 19th century. It is a monumental move in the…

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom commuted the sentences of 548 death row inmates in one of his last acts in office. This is the largest death sentence commutation in American history. “I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values,…

Newsom's decision comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that he’ll change all death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Newsom’s decision comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years. In 2019, he placed a moratorium on executions in the state but hundreds…

Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted death sentences for 548 state prisoners, saying "state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values." Victims rights advocates criticized his decision.

If approved by a state court, the number of people sentenced to death nationwide would drop by nearly a third.