Governor of California converts 500 death sentences into life imprisonment

Gcalifornia's winterer, Gavin Newsom, announced Thursday that it will convert over 500 death sentences in the state into life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Newsom's decision comes at a time when he prepares to leave office after eight years and evaluates a possible candidate for president. The Democrat, who has long opposed the death penalty, established a moratorium on the executions in California in 2019.

“ I take this measure because I firmly believe that the act of killing, sanctioned by the State, is incompatible with the values of California ", said Newsom in a letter. “It undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” he explained.

Newsom took steps to grant clemency to 548 people currently sentenced to death in California — 529 men and 19 women, according to data provided by his office.

The state constitution requires the approval of the California Supreme Court for the granting of leniency to any person convicted of a serious crime more than once, so the court will have to approve 382 of these switching — about 70% of the total — the Newsom office reported.

In 2012 and 2016 California voters voted, through popular consultations, to maintain the death penalty. No one has been executed in the state since 2006, and California houses the largest “death corridor” in the Western Hemisphere.

Newsom said this was one of the hardest decisions of his career, as he will revisit painful memories for the families of the victims of crimes.

“ As governor, I alone take responsibility for this decision and for its impact, as I alone would assume responsibility for each execution”, wrote Newsom.

Patricia Wenskunas, founder of the non-profit “Crime Survivors” — who defends victims of crime and opposed the abolition of the death penalty — criticized the decision of Newsom, classifying the decision as “offensive” and “ultrajant”.

The California Attorney’s Association did not immediately comment on the announcement, but last month sent a letter to Newsom to express “serious concerns” about the possibility of it adopting the measure, warning that such a comprehensive action would cause further suffering to the families of the victims.

“ Each death sentence in California represents an individual case in which a jury examined the evidence, considered the circumstances and determined that the most severe punishment provided for in our legislation was adequate,” said the president of the association, Jeannine M. Pacioni. “To cancel all these decisions with a single pendant, without taking into account the facts of each case or affected families, would be a serious injury to the administration of justice.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — which maintains that the application of the death penalty reflects a racial pendor — praised the announcement.

“ These penalty commutations reflect what justice demands: the end of a racist punishment, subject to errors and inhumane, which has weighed on California for too long,” executive director Anthony Romero said in a statement.