Gavin Newsom has spared every murderer on California's death row in one of his final acts as governor.
Newsom on Thursday announced that he was commuting the sentences of all 548 prisoners on death row in the state.
He has reduced every sentence to life in prison without parole, he revealed in an open letter to California residents.
The Democrat said his decision comes after 'nearly three decades of openly opposing' capital punishment, which he finds morally objectionable.
Newsom acknowledged that the prisoners on death row caused 'indescribable suffering' to their victims and their loved ones, but went on to argue that he has 'concluded the state cannot morally kill them.'
'State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,' he wrote in the letter.
'I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.'
Although Newsom has announced his mass clemency plan, it is unclear if he is actually permitted to reduce every prisoner's sentence under California law.
Gavin Newsom, pictured, has spared every murderer on California's death row in one of his final acts as governor
Newsom has commuted the sentences of all 548 prisoners on death row in the state, reducing every sentence to life in prison without parole
According to the state constitution, the governor can unilaterally grant clemency and commute sentences for inmates who have only been convicted of a single felony.
But the California Supreme Court's approval is required to grant clemency to anyone convicted of a felony more than once.
This means the court would have to approve 382 of the commutations announced Thursday, or roughly 70 percent, according to numbers provided by Newsom's office.
Newsom said the decision was among the most difficult choices of his career because it will surface painful memories for murder victims' families.
'As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution,' he wrote.
LA County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman pushed back against Newsom's decision.
In a statement, he said that while the California governor has the 'constitutional power' to commute existing death sentences, 'that power does not extend to eliminating the death penalty.'
Hochman added: 'Only the Legislature or the voters can do that. Californians have been asked on two separate ballot initiatives to abolish the death penalty and both times they have chosen to keep it for the most serious crimes.
'Until the law is changed, my office will continue to evaluate every death penalty-eligible case with the rigor, care and restraint these decisions demand. As always, we will be guided by the facts, the law and the evidence. If the Legislature or the voters remove the death penalty, we will follow that law just as faithfully.
'My thoughts today are with the families of victims, who deserve a justice system that honors the law as it is written and pursues it with fairness and due process.'
Newsom had been weighing the clemency move for months, but increased talks with his advisors after the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee on September 30, Newsweek reported.
If his mass clemency moves forward, some of California's most notorious killers could be spared.
Among those is serial killer Charles Ng who was sentenced to death in 1999. He raped, tortured and murdered between 11 and 25 people in Calaveras County between 1983 and 1985.
Richard Allen Davis, 72, pictured, is currently on death row for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas
Former elementary school vice principal Vincent Brothers, pictured, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murders of his wife, three children and mother-in-law
Another serial killer, Wayne Adam Ford, is among those currently on death row.
The former long-haul trucker and ex-US Marine, 64, abducted, strangled, killed and dismembered four women – Tina Renee Gibbs, Patricia Ann Tamez, Lanett Deyon White and Kerry Ann Cummings – between 1997 and 1998.
The notorious Yosemite Park Killer, Cary Stayner, was sentenced to death after he was convicted of murdering four women near the national park in 1999.
He too could be spared by Newsom's order, despite the California Supreme Court having denied his death penalty appeal earlier this year.
Vincent Brothers, a former elementary school vice principal, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murders of his wife, three children and mother-in-law in July 2003.
Brothers shot dead his wife Joanie, 39, and their children, Marques, four, Lyndsey, two, and Marshall, six weeks, inside their Bakersfield home. He also killed Joanie's 70-year-old mother, Earnestine Harper.
The crime scene was staged to look like a botched burglary and Brothers attempted to establish an alibi by flying to Ohio before the murders.
He then rented a car, drove to California and returned to Ohio afterwards.
Charles Ng was sentenced to death in 1999 after he raped, tortured, and murdered between eleven and 25 people in Calaveras County between 1983 and 1985
Cary Stayner, known as the Yosemite Park Killer, could be sparred by Newsom's order, despite the California Supreme Court having just denied his death penalty appeal earlier this year
Former long-haul trucker Wayne Adam Ford murdered four women between 1997 and 1998
Richard Allen Davis, 72, is currently on death row for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas.
Davis snatched the young girl from her bedroom at knifepoint and strangled her to death, before burying her in a shallow grave.
'Alphabet killer' Joseph Naso, 92, was sentenced to death row in November 2013 for the murders of four female prostitutes, whose bodies he dumped in rural areas across Northern California.
Naso, a father of two who worked as a photographer and coached a Little League team, was found guilty of killing Roxene Roggasch, 18, in 1977; Carmen Colon, 22, in 1978; Pamela Parsons, 38, in 1993; and Tracy Tafoya, 31, in 1994.
He strangled them to death – taking photos of their posed, lifeless bodies and at times having sex with their corpses.
Investigators recovered a harrowing 'list of 10' from the killer's remote Reno, Nevada, home. This note was believed to have recounted all his victims.
But Naso allegedly confessed last year to a fellow inmate at the infamous San Quentin State Prison this list did not consist of his only 10 victims, but his 'top 10' most brutal killings.
'Alphabet killer' Joseph Naso, 92, was sentenced to death row in November 2023 for the murders of four women, whose bodies he dumped in rural areas across Northern California
'Yacht killer' Skylar Deleon, 47, sentenced to death in 2009 for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. DeLeon, born John Jacobson Jr, underwent a sex-change surgery using taxpayers money while on death row. She is pictured before, left, and after the surgery, right
'Yacht killer' Skylar Deleon, 47, could be impacted by Newsom's clemency decision after having already managed to undergo sex-change surgery using taxpayers money while on death row.
DeLeon, a former child actor, started transitioning while behind bars after she was sentenced to death in 2009 for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks.
DeLeon, who was born John Jacobson Jr, overpowered the couple on their 55ft yacht and tied them to the boat's anchor before throwing them overboard in 2004.
During her trial, lawyers said that she did so to pay for a sex change – having forced the couple to sign over their assets before they were killed.
Her wishes came true when the California taxpayer started footing the bill for her surgery in April 2023.
All executions in California take place at the infamous San Quentin State Prison
Newsom's clemency ruling comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years. In 2019, he placed a moratorium on executions in the state, but hundreds of people remained on death row.
California voters rejected a ballot measure in 2016 that would have repealed the death penalty in the state.
Newsom has said in the past that he feels it is wrong for the government to kill its citizens and that capital punishment in practice has discriminated against mentally ill people and people of color.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who has argued the implementation of the death penalty reflects racial bias, applauded the announcement.
'These commutations reflect what justice demands: An end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long,' said executive director Anthony Romero in a statement.
The ACLU is involved in an ongoing legal challenge to California's death penalty statute, alleging it is racially discriminatory and unconstitutional.
