{
  "id": 18378144,
  "title": "Newsom moves to empty California's death row as 2028 looms",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/newsom-moves-to-empty-californias-death-row-as-2028-looms",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-05T20:57:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Axios",
    "slug": "axios",
    "url": "https://www.axios.com/2026/11/05/newsom-california-death-penalty-2028"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to commute all 548 death sentences within the state to life without parole, potentially emptying the nation's largest death row. This decision, which would constitute the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history, comes during Newsom's final months in office and ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid.\n\nNewsom asserts that executing individuals in an imperfect legal system goes against core values such as justice and human decency. He writes in a letter to Californians, \"Many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die. But as Governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them.\"\n\nThe move allows the prisoners to die in obscurity while their victims remain remembered and honored. This decision is among the most challenging of Newsom's career, as some prisoners with multiple felony convictions require approval from the California Supreme Court before their sentences can be reduced, according to the California Constitution.\n\nNotably, this does not end the death penalty in California, as it remains legal, though no executions have been performed since 2006. California voters rejected ballot measures in 2012 and 2016 to abolish capital punishment. In 2024, former President Biden commuted 37 federal death sentences, leading the ACLU to push Newsom to follow suit.\n\nNewsom's predecessor instituted a moratorium on executions upon taking office, reprieving 737 prisoners from death row. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been advocating for Newsom to commute death row sentences since Biden's action. Other Democratic governors, including North Carolina's Roy Cooper, have also commuted death sentences in recent years. The death penalty is under heavy scrutiny nationwide following a failed execution attempt in Tennessee and calls for public executions by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.",
  "summary": "California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday he plans to commute all 548 of the state's death sentences to life without parole, a sweeping decision that could empty the nation's largest death row. Why it matters: If Newsom follows through, it will be the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history , reducing the national death-row population by more than a quarter. The move…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}