Newsom commutes death sentences for every person on California’s death row, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday, converting all 548 sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. If approved in full, it would be the largest mass commutation in American history.
The 548 people affected include 529 men and 19 women, according to state figures reported by CNN and USA Today. The commutations cover everyone currently under a death sentence in California, the state with the largest death row in the country.
Newsom’s announcement came on the same day three other states each carried out an execution, only the second time this year that three executions have fallen on a single day.
How the Newsom commutes death sentences order works
The governor’s power to commute sentences is not unlimited. Under California law, 382 of the cases need a recommendation from the state Supreme Court before the commutation can take effect. The remaining cases can be commuted by the governor directly.
Newsom has asked the court to act on those recommendations. If the court approves them, every death sentence in California would be converted to life without parole, effectively emptying the state’s death row.
The move builds on the moratorium on executions Newsom imposed in 2019, shortly after taking office. No one has been executed in California since 2006, and the state’s death row has grown for decades as appeals moved slowly through the courts.
Three executions elsewhere on the same day
The contrast with the rest of the country could hardly have been sharper. On Thursday, Florida executed Jesse Guardado, 64, its 19th execution of 2026, tying the state’s one-year record. Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit, 50, and Alabama also carried out an execution.
Florida has now executed 19 people this year, a pace that has drawn attention from death penalty opponents and supporters alike. The three executions in a single day underscored how divided the country remains on capital punishment, even as California moves in the opposite direction.
What supporters and critics are saying
Supporters of the commutations argue that California’s death penalty system is broken beyond repair. They point to the decades-long delays, the cost of maintaining death row, and the risk of wrongful convictions. California has exonerated multiple death row prisoners over the years, and critics say the system cannot be trusted with irreversible punishments.
Critics of the move argue that the governor is overriding the decisions of juries and voters. California voters have twice rejected ballot measures to abolish the death penalty, most recently in 2016, when they instead approved a measure intended to speed up executions. Opponents say commutation denies justice to victims’ families who waited years, in some cases decades, for a sentence to be carried out.
Victims’ families are divided. Some have welcomed the certainty of life without parole, saying it ends years of appeals and uncertainty. Others have said the commutations reopen old wounds and disregard the verdicts that juries reached.
What happens next in California
The immediate question is the state Supreme Court. The court must review the 382 cases that require its recommendation, a process that could take months. Legal challenges are also possible, including from prosecutors or victims’ families who argue the governor exceeded his authority.
If the commutations stand, California would join the growing list of states that have effectively ended the death penalty, either by abolition or by moratorium. Twenty-three states have abolished capital punishment, and several others have paused executions.
- 548 death sentences commuted to life without parole
- 529 men and 19 women affected
- 382 cases need a California Supreme Court recommendation
- 2006 was the last execution carried out in California
- 3 executions carried out in other states on the same day
The national picture on the death penalty
California’s move comes as the national use of the death penalty continues to shrink. Twenty-three states have abolished capital punishment, and several others, including Oregon and Pennsylvania, have formal moratoriums in place. Executions nationwide have fallen sharply from their peak in the late 1990s, when nearly 100 people a year were put to death. In 2026, the total remains far below that level, even with Florida’s record pace. Public support for the death penalty has also declined in polling over the past two decades, though a majority of Americans still say they favor it for murder in the abstract. The divide increasingly runs along state lines: a small number of states carry out most executions, while a growing number have abandoned the practice entirely or left their death rows untouched for years.
Newsom’s decision is likely to become a defining part of his legacy as governor, and it arrives as he is widely discussed as a potential national figure. Whether the commutations survive legal review will determine whether California’s death row is truly emptied, or whether the state’s long stalemate over capital punishment continues.
Sources: CNN, USA Today, and state reporting on Governor Newsom’s November 5, 2026 announcement.