Gavin Newsom reveals the tragic death row case that triggered him to commute all execution sentences after speaking to victim’s two sisters

California Governor Gavin Newsom says a meeting with Polly Klaas’s two sisters helped persuade him to commute the death sentences of all 547 people on the state’s death row. Their opposition to executions, despite their half-sister’s murder, challenged the idea that capital punishment brings justice or helps grieving families.

Klaas was 12 when Richard Allen Davis abducted and murdered her in 1993; he remains on death row. Her killing helped fuel calls for tougher criminal penalties, a legacy her sisters describe as painful and retraumatising. They met Newsom at San Quentin in October and urged him to support a justice system focused on family support and reform.