California DA says Gavin Newsom’s ‘cruel’ death row clemency stabs crime victims ‘in the heart’

California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row to life without the possibility of parole. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer condemned the plan as immoral and said it disregarded victims and their families; the debate matters because it raises questions about clemency, victims’ interests and the future of capital punishment.

Newsom said in a 5 November letter that the death penalty conflicts with California’s values and carries a risk of executing innocent people. Spitzer argued that changes to state law could eventually create routes to parole or resentencing, while Newsom’s office says the commutations would not make inmates eligible for release. The plan also faces a constitutional hurdle: for people convicted of felonies on two or more occasions, the California Supreme Court must recommend commutation, with at least four justices agreeing.