Gavin Newsom Commutes All 548 Sentences of Death Row Inmates

Thursday, November 05, 2026

Though California hasn't executed anyone for 20 years, that represents about a quarter of death sentences nationwide.

Posted by south_american at 09:32 PM | 11 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

BREAKING: Gov. Gavin Newsom commutes all 548 death sentences in California to life without parole, saying he opposes "state-sanctioned killing."

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-- NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2:45 PM Â· Nov 5, 2026

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Yesssssssss Thank You Jesus,

#1 | Posted by LauraMohr at 2026-11-05 06:16 PM | Reply

... Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to run for president, ...

Now that the midterms are behind us, the next stop is 2028.

Let the maneuvering begin ...

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-11-05 06:59 PM | Reply

"I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values."
~Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)

"Values."

Uh-huh.

What took this "Democrat" so long to finally find his moral compass?

But did he really?

CAIR LA reports: "Every year $610m in California taxpayer dollars goes to funding Israel's genocide in Gaza."

"FUNNY"

#3 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-11-06 03:36 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

It is now broadly accepted that the judicial review provided to death-penalty cases in the United States has been inadequate to prevent the execution of at least some prisoners who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. Some cases with strong evidence of innocence include:

Carlos DeLuna (Texas, convicted 1983, executed 1989)
Ruben Cantu (Texas, convicted 1985, executed 1993)
Larry Griffin (Missouri, convicted 1981, executed 1995)
Joseph O'Dell (Virginia, convicted 1986, executed 1997)
David Spence (Texas, convicted 1984, executed 1997)
Leo Jones (Florida, convicted 1981, executed 1998)
Gary Graham (Texas, convicted 1981, executed 2000)
Claude Jones (Texas, convicted 1989, executed 2000)
Cameron Todd Willingham (Texas, convicted 1992, executed 2004)
Sedley Alley (Tennessee, convicted 1987, executed 2006)
Troy Davis (Georgia, convicted 1991, executed 2011)
Lester Bower (Texas, convicted 1984, executed 2015)
Brian Terrell (Georgia, convicted 1995, executed 2015)
Richard Masterson (Texas, convicted 2002, executed 2016)
Robert Pruett (Texas, convicted 2002, executed 2017)
Carlton Michael Gary (Georgia, convicted 1986, executed 2018)
Domineque Ray (Alabama, convicted 1999; executed 2019)
Larry Swearingen (Texas, convicted 2000, executed 2019)
Walter Barton (Missouri, convicted 1993, executed 2020)
Nathaniel Woods (Alabama, convicted 2005, executed 2020)
Marcellus Williams (Missouri, convicted in 2001, executed 2024)

#4 | Posted by danni at 2026-11-06 05:55 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 4

Murder by the state is a crime against humanity and is incompatible with a civilized society.

While I'm not a fan of Newsom (he's too much of a suck-up to billionaires) this is a very good thing and will likely be the end of murder by the state in California.

So thank you, Gavin Newsom.

#5 | Posted by DarkVader at 2026-11-06 03:53 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 4

"Thou shalt not kill"

The sixth commandment from traditional biblical translations.

#6 | Posted by South_American at 2026-11-07 12:20 AM | Reply

No doubt some horrendous murderers in the bunch, but all in all, I agree with what Newsom did. Broken children grow up to be broken, dangerous adults, and in the end, our culture bears have the blame for such crimes.
Older I get, the more I understand the power of love and the commonality of our humanity.

#7 | Posted by Hughmass at 2026-11-07 06:50 AM | Reply

This move saves Californians hundreds of millions of dollars. These prisoners no longer need to be on "death row". Which is the most expensive way to house a prisoner.

No one has been executed here for over 20 years anyway.

Anyone who is pro-life should be ecstatic.

Even the Fake Plastic Christians!

#8 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-11-07 01:39 PM | Reply

"This move saves Californians hundreds of millions of dollars"

While true --- and who wouldn't want to save 0.1% of the California annual budget...

This was Newsom's attempt to ride the Blue Wave, by Virtue Signaling.

#9 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-11-07 01:54 PM | Reply

This was Newsom's attempt to ride the Blue Wave, by Virtue Signaling.

#9 | POSTED BY SNOOFY

I am with DarkVader on this one. I have my reservations regarding Newsome too. Can't believe he undermined Prop 40. They spent more money undermining the people's will than just chipping in to help the people who made their wealth possible.

I don't care why he commuted their death sentences to life in prison.

I am just happy somebody finally found the balls to do it.

#10 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-11-07 02:06 PM | Reply

Governor Weather Vane, a protege of fabulously wealthy Nancy Pelosi (D-CA; net worth of $114,662,521), had two full terms to "do the right thing" by commuting these death sentences.

That's eight years.

After eight years of leading one of the largest economies in the world (California's GDP reached $4.1 trillion, slightly larger than Japan's), tweeting comical anti-Dummkopf Trumpf messages, and linking California's public health agencies with WHO, somehow Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is not the face of the Democratic Party nor is he the vanguard opposing the Republican Party.

But this young man below from NYC is.

And Zohran Mamdani (D) has not been in office as NYC mayor a full year yet.

"FUNNY 2"

#11 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-11-07 02:32 PM | Reply