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Ex-Dem Senate leader asks California Supreme Court to block Gavin Newsom’s death row commutations
Former California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero is asking the state Supreme Court to block Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row. She argues that the decision was politically motivated and that the Constitution limits the governor’s power to commute sentences for people with multiple felony convictions.
Newsom says he acted because the state should not carry out executions, and the commutations would change the sentences to life in prison without parole. Romero says 382 inmates fall under a constitutional provision requiring the approval of four Supreme Court justices; her online petition had more than 1,000 signatures as of Monday. Newsom is due to leave office in January and has considered a possible 2028 presidential run.
In short
- Romero asks California’s Supreme Court to block the commutations.
- She says 382 cases require justices’ approval.
- Newsom says the move reflects California’s opposition to executions.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Romero’s challenge can be defended as a constitutional check on executive power: if the state constitution requires four Supreme Court justices to approve clemency for people with multiple felony convictions, the governor should follow that process even when the proposed commutations reflect a principled opposition to executions. Seeking judicial review also protects the separation of powers and public confidence that a decision affecting hundreds of sentences is grounded in law rather than political calculation.
The case against
Newsom’s plan can be defended as a use of the governor’s clemency power to prevent executions he considers unjust, while preserving life without parole as a severe punishment. Commuting sentences across the death row applies that policy consistently, and the state Supreme Court can determine whether any constitutional approval requirement applies; the governor’s possible political ambitions do not by themselves show that his stated rationale is insincere.
Explained simply
California’s governor can reduce criminal sentences through a power known as clemency. A commutation changes a sentence but does not erase the conviction; in this case, the proposed change would mean life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of execution.
California has had a death penalty for decades, but executions have been on hold under Gavin Newsom. The state constitution sets rules for when a governor may commute sentences, including an extra approval requirement for some people with multiple felony convictions.
Gloria Romero is a former state senator who once held a senior leadership role in the California Senate. The dispute matters because it tests the limits of a governor’s clemency power and could affect whether hundreds of death sentences are changed.