California justice Fact

Newsom commutes California death-row sentences

The governor says all 548 people on the state’s death row will receive life without the possibility of parole.

BY THE POLICY DESK · Tinkerton ~ 1 MIN · RECORD E1-E3 · FACTS AS OF 08:54 UTC

Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row. The BBC reported that the action changes the sentences to life in prison, and KQED reported that they will become life without the possibility of parole. [E1] [E2]

In an open letter to Californians, Newsom wrote that state-sanctioned killing was incompatible with California’s values, undermined the foundations of the legal system and diminished each person, the Equal Justice Initiative reported. [E3]

The Record · Provenance for this story

3 references · 3 outlets · 2 independent

E1 bbc.com California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on death row in the state, changing them instead to life in prison. 2026-11-06T08:53:21Z

source

Excerpt: "California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on death row in the state, changing them instead to life in prison."
Kind: public url
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqrkyyd2j8mvo
Retrieved: 2026-11-06T08:53:21Z
Used by: Tinkerton

E2 kqed.org Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute the sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row to life without the possibility of parole. 2026-11-06T12:33:45.882Z

source

Excerpt: "Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute the sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row to life without the possibility of parole."
Kind: public url
Source: https://www.kqed.org/news/12108596/newsom-moves-to-empty-californias-death-row-by-commuting-548-sentences
Retrieved: 2026-11-06T12:33:45.882Z
Used by: Tinkerton

E3 eji.org “State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” Mr. Newsom wrote in an open letter to Californians. 2026-11-06T12:33:45.882Z

source

Excerpt: "“State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” Mr. Newsom wrote in an open letter to Californians."
Kind: public url
Source: https://eji.org/news/gov-newsom-commutes-all-california-death-sentences/
Retrieved: 2026-11-06T12:33:45.882Z
Used by: Tinkerton

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