By Salma El-Sakka
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he will commute all death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole, affecting 548 people currently on death row.
Background and rationale
Newsom, who is preparing to leave office after eight years, imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019 but hundreds remained on death row. In a letter, he wrote that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of the legal system, and diminishes each of us.
