California governor commutes the death sentences of all 548 condemned inmates in the state

California Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row, replacing them with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The measure, announced as Newsom is considered a potential candidate in the 2028 U.S. presidential election, amounts to the de facto abolition of the death penalty in California, but does not remove it from the law.

Newsom justified his decision by citing his moral opposition to state executions. He argued that the death penalty is unfair, costly and vulnerable to judicial errors, including the risk of convicting innocent people.

The immediate impact is primarily symbolic. California has not executed an inmate since 2006, and Newsom suspended the use of the death penalty in 2019. Since 1978, the state has carried out 13 executions.

Permanent abolition would require action by the legislature or a referendum. California voters have already rejected similar initiatives twice. The death penalty remains legal in 27 U.S. states.