<\/p>\n
Opponents of the death penalty rally at San Francisco City Hall in 2025 to call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to commute all the state\u2019s death sentences.<\/p>\n
Yalonda M. James\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
During the 49 years since Amnesty International started campaigning against the death penalty, more than 110 countries have outlawed this inhumane practice. Year after year, however, the United States is among a handful of countries that continue to use it.\u00a0In 2025, the U.S. had the fifth-highest number of executions in the world<\/a>, after China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is the only executioner in the Americas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Shockingly, 25% of those on death row in the U.S. are sitting in California prisons.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m the executive director of Amnesty International USA, and last month, I met with\u00a0Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s team to discuss how he can leave a legacy when it comes to ending the use of this inhumane punishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n California has not executed anybody in two decades, and Newsom issued a moratorium on executions in 2019, but the state still has the largest death row in the entire nation with more than 550 people<\/a>. In fact, with the simple snap of his fingers, the next governor could resume executions. For that reason, Newsom should seize a historic opportunity to move California closer to ending the death penalty by commuting all of the death sentences in the state. But his time is running out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Newsom has always been forthcoming about his position against this cruel punishment. When he imposed the moratorium on executions<\/a>, he called California\u2019s death penalty system unfair and discriminatory<\/a>. He was right.<\/p>\n This archaic punishment is marked by racial discrimination, being disproportionately imposed against communities of color. According to a recent study<\/a>, Black people are up to 8.7 times as likely to be sentenced to death as similarly situated non-Black defendants, Latino people are up to 6.2 times as likely to be sentenced to death, and defendants of all races are up to 8.8 times as likely to be condemned to death when at least one of the victims in the case is white.\u00a0<\/p>\n The death penalty is also disproportionately imposed on people with mental and intellectual disabilities. According to the figures in the death penalty report of the state Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code<\/a>, one third of individuals held on death row as of 2021 were being treated for severe mental disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And capital punishment comes with staggering costs for taxpayers. A 2011 study by San Francisco U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Arthur\u00a0L. Alarcon and Loyola Law School professor Paula M. Mitchell<\/a> estimated that California taxpayers spent more than $4 billion since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, and estimated the annual cost of pursuing executions to be $184 million more than pursuing life without parole.<\/p>\n The bottom line is that the use of the death penalty runs the irreversible risk of executing innocent people. Shujaa Graham was wrongly convicted of the murder of a prison guard during a protest and sentenced to death in 1976. He spent five years on death row in California before being acquitted of the crime. After his exoneration, he told a reporter:<\/a> \u201cEach and every day that I wake up, death row is the first thing on my mind. I can look at my chil\u00addren and look at my wife and say what if California would\u2019ve had their way, I wouldn\u2019t be here today.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom did the right thing with his moratorium, but his order was always temporary. The fact remains that his promise to pause executions is only good until he leaves office in 2027. What he does next will determine whether California merely delayed executions or truly ended them for the people currently on death row.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Before he leaves, Newsom can act to commute every death sentence in California. Doing so would not free anyone from prison, but it would completely remove the inhumane threat for those with a death sentence, rather than simply delay it. This decision would solidify Newsom\u2019s position as a leader against capital punishment, and the significance would extend far beyond California.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, Amnesty International joined more than 40 other international organizations in sending\u00a0Newsom a letter <\/a>asking him to commute all death sentences in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n According to our latest annual report,<\/a> only 17 countries carried out executions in 2025. Meanwhile, in 2025, executions in the U.S. climbed to their highest level since 2009. With Newsom\u2019s leadership, California can represent a different path: one that acknowledges the death penalty as a failed and archaic policy rather than a false symbol of justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n California, especially under Newsom, often positions itself as a national leader on criminal justice reform, from sentencing reform to prison conditions to reentry initiatives. Ending the existing death sentences once and for all would be among the most consequential acts of executive leadership in modern state history. It would impact more than a quarter of all people currently on death row in the entire United States and could fundamentally reshape the national conversation around capital punishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Importantly, the governor does not need to wait for the legislature or a statewide ballot initiative. California law already gives him clemency authority. In about 40% of cases, he has the power to commute their sentences directly. In others, he can seek approval from the California Supreme Court. The pathway exists. What remains uncertain is whether the political will exists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.<\/p>\n