California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, 5 November 2026, that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row — the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere — in what the Death Penalty Information Center called the largest mass commutation of death sentences in US history.
Under the decision, every current death sentence in California will be reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Newsom announced the move in a three-page open letter addressed to “all Californians”, saying he had concluded that state-sanctioned killing was incompatible with the state’s values.
The decision does not repeal California’s death penalty, and prosecutors will still be able to seek it in future cases. Some of the commutations will also need to be reviewed by the California Supreme Court before they become final, because the state constitution requires the court’s approval for clemency in cases involving multiple felony convictions.
California has not carried out an execution since 2006. Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in 2019, and has long described the death penalty as unjust and error-prone.
The announcement comes near the end of Newsom’s second and final four-year term as governor. He is widely expected to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2028.
Source: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-governor-grant-clemency-all-548-death-row-inmates-state-2026-11-05/
