California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he has decided to spare the lives of all 548 inmates sentenced to death in the state. The Democratic politician is nearing the end of his term and may run for president in 2028.
Newsom commuted all death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The governor said he made the decision because he considers the death penalty morally unacceptable.
It is the largest mass commutation of death sentences in modern U.S. history, The New York Times emphasized.
“State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” the Democrat wrote in an open letter to Californians.
The Times noted that Newsom is not the first politician to make a similar decision. The paper also pointed out that California has not carried out an execution in 20 years. There was also no sign that executions would resume anytime soon.
Still, because of its scale, Newsom’s decision carries particular significance. California has more inmates awaiting execution than any other state, and the governor’s move cancels about a quarter of all death sentences handed down across the United States, the newspaper observed.
Newsom announced the decision two months before the end of his term. The politician is considering a run for president of the United States. The move could make him a more attractive candidate in the eyes of liberal voters in the Democratic primaries, but it will likely expose him to criticism and attacks from opponents in a general election, the Times observed.
Under California law, the state Supreme Court must agree to reduce the sentence of anyone who has been convicted of a crime more than once. This means the court will have to approve about 70% of these sentence changes, the Associated Press reported, citing the governor’s office.
From Washington, Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)
