California Prosecutors Pledge to Continue Seeking Death Penalty After Newsom’s Mass Commutations

The death penalty remains an option in California as local prosecutors defy Newsom’s clemency move

(DPN) — Prosecutors across California have pledged to continue seeking the death penalty in future cases even after Governor Gavin Newsom announced mass commutations converting all 548 existing death sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This action, the largest such clemency in U.S. history, leaves the death penalty itself intact under state law. Voters have twice rejected measures to abolish it, and district attorneys in several counties argue that the severity of certain murders still warrants capital charges. They intend to pursue them where the facts support it, regardless of the governor’s decision on prior sentences.

Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin has been particularly vocal. His office currently has about 20 pending capital cases and has historically sent more people to death row than any other county. One such case involves Saul Arevalo, recently convicted of a triple murder in which a jury recommended death; a judge has yet to impose the final sentence. Similar pending matters exist in San Bernardino and other counties, where juries have already voted for capital punishment and formal sentencing remains pending. Prosecutors emphasize that California law still permits the death penalty for murders with special circumstances, and local offices will continue evaluating cases on their individual merits.

The commutations apply only to the current death-row population. More than half require approval from the California Supreme Court because the inmates have prior felony convictions. If those approvals are secured before Newsom leaves office, the existing death row will be emptied, yet new sentences could gradually rebuild it. If the Court has not acted by January, those specific commutations would lapse and the death sentences would remain in place. Incoming Governor Xavier Becerra has indicated he will maintain the longstanding moratorium on actual executions, which has prevented any since 2006, but he has not ruled out leaving future capital sentences in place. Some district attorneys are exploring legal challenges to the blanket commutations, arguing that the governor’s authority may not extend to such a sweeping action without individualized review.

California voters rejected ballot measures to abolish the death penalty in both 2012 and 2016, while approving a 2016 measure intended to speed up the appeals process. The death penalty therefore remains state law; only a future ballot measure or legislative action can remove it. The state has not carried out an execution since 2006. Newsom’s 2019 moratorium and the subsequent dismantling of the execution chamber at San Quentin mean that even newly imposed death sentences would face the same practical barrier unless a future governor lifts the moratorium. Several recent jury recommendations for death, including in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, are still awaiting formal judicial sentencing and could become the first new death sentences after the commutations take effect.

Source: DPN, Staff, News Outlets, Agencies, AI, November 7, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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