Gavin Newsom commutes California death row sentences

California Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted the death sentences of 548 people on the state’s death row on 5 November 2026, changing them to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to BBC reporting. The Guardian also reported the commutations took place that day and said the move was the largest clearing of a US death row in modern history.

NBC News reported that Newsom said the action affected 548 people. Its account also cited 561 people on death row in state corrections records as of Tuesday. The reports do not reconcile the different counts; the BBC’s figure is attributed to its report of the commutations.

Newsom’s stated reason for commuting the sentences

California’s death penalty history

California has not executed a prisoner since 2006, the BBC reported. The state nevertheless continued to have people under death sentences, and the BBC described California as historically having the largest death-row population in the United States. Newsom ordered a halt to executions in 2019. The commutation changes the sentences of those affected after years without an execution in the state.

The BBC characterized the decision as largely symbolic given the absence of executions since 2006. It also reported that experts said the change could save millions of dollars in court costs each year, without giving a specific estimate. The report said only 13 inmates had been executed since voters reinstated the death penalty in 1978.

Other governors have commuted death sentences

The Guardian placed Newsom’s action alongside earlier decisions by governors nearing the ends of their terms. Illinois’s governor commuted all 167 death sentences in 2003 before leaving office, the Guardian reported. In 2024, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper commuted 15 death sentences on his final day in office. The Guardian described Newsom’s action as the largest such clearing of a US death row in modern history.