Newsom Weighs Commuting 563 California Death Sentences After Tennessee Execution Failure
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 8
Newsom Weighs Commuting 563 California Death Sentences After Tennessee Execution Failure
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 8
Summary
563 California death row inmates could have their sentences reduced to life without parole as Gavin Newsom weighs a sweeping commutation before leaving office in January.
Last week's botched Tennessee execution accelerated talks that had already been underway for months, alongside Newsom's long-stated moral opposition to capital punishment.
California has not carried out an execution in 20 years, and the leading candidate to succeed Newsom has pledged to keep the state's death-penalty moratorium in place.
A blanket commutation would still lock in the change regardless of future governors, but advisers are split over whether sparing convicted killers would trigger political backlash.
167 Illinois death sentences were commuted by Gov. George Ryan in 2003; Newsom's move would be the largest modern U.S. clearing of death row.