Newsom commutes sentences of all death row inmates

ENCINITAS — Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today he will commute the sentences of all 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, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” Newsom wrote in an open letter to California residents.

“I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.”

California has not executed anyone since Jan. 17, 2006.

Newsom, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, issued an executive order in 2019 placing a moratorium on executions in the state.

“The people sentenced to death in California caused indescribable suffering to victims, their families, communities and our state as a whole,” Newsom wrote in his message. “The harm they inflicted persists across generations. Many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die. But as governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them. I do, however, pray that this action will finally separate the memories of the victims of these crimes from the fate of those who harmed them. We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honor their victims.”

Newsom, who will step down as governor on Jan. 4 due to term limits — giving way to newly elected Gov. Xavier Becerra — acknowledged that his action will not abolish the death penalty in California, only commute the sentences of those who are currently on death row.

“The power to repeal the death penalty rests with the Legislature and voters,” he wrote. “The discretion to seek, impose and uphold death sentences in individual cases remains, as ever, in the hands of prosecutors, juries and courts. But the constitution also gave every governor clemency authority, and that power exists for moments when law as applied cannot be squared with justice. For me, this is that moment.

“California’s Constitution requires the Supreme Court’s review of clemency grants to those twice-convicted of a felony. My decision to commute all death sentences therefore compels the involvement of the chief justice and associate justices in a unique inter-branch constitutional process. While I am confident this act of categorical clemency is consistent with California law, I acknowledge that my decision to exercise my constitutional clemency authority requires the justices to participate in a weighty decision they did not choose to take up and with which they may personally disagree. I profoundly appreciate the integrity and expertise the court brings to the task of clemency review.”

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan sharply criticized the decision in a statement, saying, “The governor’s decision to commute the death sentences of all individuals on California’s death row is a devastating blow to the victims who suffered the loss of loved ones in some of the cruelest and most haunting ways and who have already endured a lengthy jury trial and sentencing that they counted on as a measure of justice. Our office is getting calls with pain and shock for being deprived of any input and consideration of their rights under the constitution. We are researching any lawful remedies that would allow their voices to be heard and considered. My office was not given any opportunity to provide input or provide notification, support or services to the victims’ families ahead of the governor’s public announcement. They deserved to be spared hearing about this enormous decision by way of media.”

Stephan said family members of victims whose murders led to capital cases should have at least been notified before the decision was announced publicly. Among the San Diego County cases she cited in her statement were the 2016 shooting death of a San Diego police officer and the rape and murder of a young girl abducted from her Saber Springs home in 2002.

“For the families of victims of these unspeakable crimes, the impact is profound,” Stephan said. “Consider the family of JD DeGuzman, a police officer gunned down in the line of duty, the parents of Danielle Van Dam, a 7-year-old girl abducted from the safety of her bedroom, raped and murdered, or the loved ones of individuals who were brutally taken from them through unimaginable acts of violence. At a minimum, California’s moral values would have required that the governor’s office provide the information to each of these victims before announcing it to the rest of the world. These families who have suffered unspeakable loss and have been sentenced to a lifetime of grief and heartache deserve more than a public announcement. They deserve compassion, respect and the opportunity to have their voices heard.”

In a statement, San Diego Police Officers Association President Jared Wilson claimed Newsom “has shown a troubling disregard for public safety, and now he is disregarding the will of California voters who have repeatedly rejected efforts to abolish the death penalty. His decision to commute the sentences of hundreds of convicted murderers to life without parole overrides the sentences handed down by juries and courts across our state. The victims of these horrific crimes and their families have already endured unimaginable suffering, and they deserve better than to have those sentences overturned by a governor more concerned with his presidential ambitions than respecting the will of California voters.”

Leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union quickly hailed Newsom’s decision.

“These commutations reflect what justice demands: an end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement. “By taking this step, Gov. Newsom has affirmed that the death penalty has no place in California, and he showed real courage by confronting racialized injustice head-on.

“The evidence against the death penalty has been overwhelming for decades. As the ACLU and allies have documented in courts across the country, a person’s risk of execution is predictable, but for all the wrong reasons: race, geography, and politics. Such profound, systemic injustice demands a systemic response. Today, California comes closer to closing the chapter on a cruel and morally and legally corrupt practice and sets a powerful example for others to follow.”

Norma Chávez-Peterson, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, said, “Systemic injustices call for systemic solutions. By granting universal clemency to all people with death sentences in California, Governor Newsom has joined a chorus of leaders nationwide who have rejected the death penalty and recognized it as a failed and unjust experiment. This isn’t about individual cases, it is about addressing a system that is racist, fundamentally flawed, ineffective and unfixable.”