The Growing Death-Penalty Divide

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that he will commute the sentences of all 548 individuals on California's death row—effectively the largest reduction in America's death-row population, which could drop the national total by nearly 27 percent. This move comes as the country remains deeply divided on the matter of capital punishment.

Although several states have eliminated the death penalty in recent years, a few red states are actively working to increase the use of death sentences and carry out more executions. The death penalty's impact varies significantly based on the location, with a prisoner's fate hinging on a few miles of geographic difference. Whether on either side of the Texas-New Mexico border, the outcome of a capital crime conviction would be determined by mere proximity.

The death penalty in America could become increasingly arbitrary and cruel before completely disappearing. Many state executives have recently followed in Newsom's footsteps, commutation actions similar to his have been undertaken in recent years. In 2024, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of 15 death-row inmates, reducing the state's death-row population by about 10 percent.

President Biden also commuted the death sentences of 37 prisoners, leaving only three still facing execution. As of 2023, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania maintained a de facto moratorium on executions by granting reprieves for every death warrant. The death penalty's prospects are dimming, with younger generations less likely to support it than previous generations.

Currently, the death penalty is concentrated in a handful of traditionally red states, accounting for roughly 68 percent of all executions in 2025.