JUST IN: Gov. Gavin Newsom Commutes ALL California Death Sentences

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has just spared the lives of all prisoners sentenced to death.

As it stands, there are 548 prisoners awaiting execution on death row.

Instead of being executed, the sentences of these prisoners will now be reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gov. Newsom announced the bold move in an open letter to constituents, which you can read right here:

BREAKING: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row to life without parole, in the largest mass commutation in modern U.S. history. pic.twitter.com/F2NiU8okXM

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 5, 2026

In case that print is hard to read, here's the full text of Newsom's letter:

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Governor Newsom's Open Letter
Regarding Commutation of All Death Sentences

November 5, 2026

To All Californians:

I have decided to exercise my constitutional clemency authority to commute all California death sentences to life without the possibility of parole.

After nearly 30 years in public office, I have come to understand the limits of what government can justly accomplish. 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. 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.

My decision today comes after nearly three decades of openly opposing state-sanctioned executions as an elected official. Soon after taking office as Governor of California, on March 13, 2019, I instituted a moratorium on executions. I could not remain true to my values and oversee the killing of people with death warrants in California. My action formalized the de facto moratorium on executions in place since 2006, the last year California executed anyone. While the moratorium has prevented any further executions, it left all death sentences in place. The 548 people now under sentence of death in California make up the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

The people sentenced to death in California caused indescribable suffering to victims, their families, communities, and our state as a whole. 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.

GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM

As you might have guessed, among the death row prisoners are some of the worst of the worst of humanity.

In a thread on X, Matt Van Swol did an excellent job summing up some of the heinous crimes just a few of these sickos committed:

2. Charles Ng.

Convicted of 11 murders in 1984-85.

His victims were abducted and taken to a cabin in Calaveras County, where they were tortured.

Six men. Three women. TWO BABIES.

Their bodies were found in shallow graves. pic.twitter.com/8BpqZp6JlG

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) November 5, 2026

4. Richard Allen Davis.

In 1993 he took 12-year-old Polly Klaas from her Petaluma bedroom AT KNIFEPOINT.

He strangled her and left her in a shallow grave.

Her case is why California has a THREE STRIKES law. pic.twitter.com/tyvQP40LSK

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) November 5, 2026

5. Isauro Aguirre.

His victim's name was Gabriel Fernandez. He was 8 years old.

He was tortured for MONTHS in his own home in Los Angeles until he d*ed in 2013.

Aguirre, his mom's boyfriend, was sentenced to DEATH.

Not anymore... pic.twitter.com/8DNXbpWQkk

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) November 5, 2026

This marks the largest commutation of death sentences ever in modern U.S. history.

However, while Newsom can automatically commute many of the death sentences, he does not have full authority as governor to do so.

Around 60% of the sentences can only be commuted after receiving approval from the California Supreme Court.

The Los Angeles Times has more:

Newsom can commute about 40% of the death sentences with the stroke of a pen, but the rest will require the high court's approval in order to be finalized.

The mass commutation would apply to men and women convicted of some of the most heinous acts in the state's history. Newsom and other opponents of capital punishment have long argued that the process is costly, cruel and discriminatory, with death sentences disproportionately handed down to defendants of color…

The move comes in Newsom's final months as governor and as he considers a run for president. Reducing the death sentences could help him in a primary with a Democratic base of like-minded liberal voters, but potentially hurt him in a general election with a national electorate that supports capital punishment.

The decision to officially spare the condemned inmates is largely symbolic in a state that has not executed a prisoner since 2006, though experts say it could save millions of dollars in court costs every year. Only 13 inmates have been killed since voters reinstated the death penalty in 1978. The state's electorate reaffirmed its support a decade ago, voting down a ballot initiative that would have abolished capital punishment. Polls show its popularity has waned in the years since.

Despite his outspoken opposition to state-sanctioned executions, the governor has declined to use his political influence with voters to pursue a ballot measure that would amend the state Constitution to align with his position and officially end the death penalty. Without changing state law, criminals can continue to be sentenced to death in California.