Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to commute the death sentences of all 548 inmates on death row in California, a move that if fully approved would constitute the largest number of death sentence commutations in U.S. history.
Newsom’s commutations, announced Nov. 5, would take inmates off death row and give them life in prison without parole. The act would affect about a fourth of all U.S. inmates on death row.
California, being the nation’s most populous state, also has the highest number of death row inmates. However, it’s unclear how many inmates will actually be taken off death row. Newsom can commute the sentences of 166 inmates.
The remaining 382 will have to be approved by at least four of the seven-member California State Supreme Court. That’s because
those inmates have more than one felony conviction.
An estimated 1,993 inmates were on death row in the United States in April 2026, according to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s quarterly Death Row USA report. Assuming all commutations are approved in California, more than 1,400 death row inmates would remain in state and federal prisons across the country.
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Blanket commutations for death row inmates are rare in the United States. The most recorded in a single commutation was 167 by Illinois Gov. George Ryan in 2003, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which has tracked commutations from 1977 to 2026.
Illinois has the most commutations with 187. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the state's death penalty in March 2011 and commuted the death sentences of 15 inmates.
Approximately 30 states have granted at least one death-row commutation or other permanent capital clemency since 1977.
No other states are considering mass death row commutations like California. Legislation has been introduced in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Missouri to abolish death penalties, but these have been unsuccessful.
Newsom, who is considering running for president in 2028, will leave the governor's office when his term expires in January 2027. The California Supreme Court has not indicated whether it will recommend all 382 commutations or act before Newsom leaves office.
Newsom, who imposed a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in 2019, said the action does not repeal California’s death penalty and applies only to current death sentences.
Contributing: Daniella Segura, James Powel, Amanda Lee Myers
Source: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Death Penalty Information Center; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Newsom commute historic 548 death sentences in California? Maybe
