Law360 (November 5, 2026, 9:17 PM EST) -- Outgoing California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to commute the sentences of all 548 of the state's death row prisoners to life without parole, saying Thursday that the death penalty was morally unjustifiable.

"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," he wrote in an open letter announcing the mass commutations. "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."

The state's constitution requires the California Supreme Court to review Newsom's proposed commutations of 382 of the condemned prisoners who were convicted of more than one felony.

California has not executed anyone in more than 20 years, and Newsom placed a formal moratorium on executions when he took office in 2019. A permanent end to California's death penalty would require action from legislators or voters, who rejected ballot measures that would have done so in 2012 and 2016.

Prosecutors have continued to seek the death penalty in some cases, triggering automatic appeals directly to the California Supreme Court and opening the door for state habeas petitions. The governor's office said Thursday that 29 people were awaiting appointment of appellate counsel, and 376 were awaiting appointment or funding of state habeas counsel — a wait that has lasted decades for many of the prisoners.

Newsom's term is set to end in January, and he has said he is considering a 2028 presidential bid. The commutations won praise from anti-death penalty groups.

"California has turned the page on a systemic injustice and set a powerful example for leaders across the country to follow, as more and more people are finding the death penalty is racist, it's costly, it's ineffective and it is cruel," Yasmin Cader, the ACLU's deputy executive director for program, strategy and culture, said in a video posted to social media Thursday.

The U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty also lauded the decision, saying capital punishment fails to deter crime and is a costly drain on taxpayers and the justice system.

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, however, argued that Newsom's unilateral commutations broke his 2019 promise to victims' families that his execution moratorium would not alter any conviction or sentence.

"Behind every one of these 548 sentences is a family: parents who buried a child, children who lost a mother, and officers' families who were handed a folded flag," Anne Marie Schubert, the organization's president and CEO, said in a written statement. She also urged the state Supreme Court to scrutinize the commutations for the 382 prisoners who require judicial review, saying justices should "review each of these cases, one at a time, the way the law and practice demands. They should hear from the families before they recommend anything."

In his open letter, Newsom acknowledged that many victims' loved ones will be angry and hurt.

"This will always weigh heavily on me," he wrote. "As governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution. For this reason, I am compelled to follow my conscience and, as authorized by our Constitution, take this action for the welfare of the State of California."

--Editing by Melissa Treolo.

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