California Gov. Gavin Newsom urged to commute all death row sentences

The California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition, joined by exoneree Shujaa Graham and more than 200 organizations, is pressing Governor Gavin Newsom to grant universal clemency for the 578 inmates currently on death row in California. The group staged a demonstration outside the state Capitol with 500 candles, each representing a death‑row prisoner, and highlighted the case of Graham, who was exonerated after decades on death row.

The coalition argues that the death penalty is racially biased, disproportionately affecting Black people, harms the mental health of those sentenced, and risks executing innocent individuals. Newsom, who announced a commitment to end California’s death penalty in 2019, has five months left in his term, and the activists are urging him to act before his tenure concludes.