Newsom Defies California Voters With Sweeping Death Row Commutations

Jimmy ParkerNovember 6, 20260

Newsom Makes a Sweeping Move

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he plans to commute the death sentences of all 548 inmates on California’s death row, with each sentence changed to life without parole. The decision clashes with his 2018 campaign promise to respect California voters, even though he personally opposed capital punishment. In 2016, voters rejected abolishing the death penalty and approved a separate measure to speed executions. Voters had also rejected abolition in 2012. After taking office, Newsom imposed a moratorium anyway. Newsom and the First Partner have transformed San Quentin’s former death row and execution chambers into a Scandinavian-inspired Learning Center. Newsom held a ribbon-cutting for the center in February. For critics, this is a governor overriding repeated voter decisions.

Westerfield Case Keeps the Pain Alive

Among the affected cases is David Westerfield’s death sentence for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in 2002. Christina Buttons, who was a neighbor of both the victim and Westerfield and was 13 at the time, described the lasting trauma in a post. She pointed to forensic evidence, including Danielle’s blood on Westerfield’s clothing and motorhome. He was also convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material. In 2019, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld his conviction and death sentence. Buttons, now an investigative reporter with the Manhattan Institute, wrote that she still hopes the court can stop the commutation.

Gabriel Fernandez’s Suffering Cannot Be Erased

Isauro Aguirre was one of two people held responsible for the torture and murder of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. Prosecutors said Gabriel endured eight months of abuse, including a fractured skull, 12 broken ribs, burns, and other injuries. He was forced to eat cat feces and sleep bound and gagged inside a small cabinet. Jonathan Hatami, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, shared his closing argument again. Hatami argued that Aguirre was responsible for the torture and that the ultimate punishment was appropriate, even though it could never match what Gabriel endured.

Polly Klaas’s Killer Is Also Included

Richard Allen Davis is another condemned killer included in the commutations. Davis kidnapped, raped, and killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas just weeks after leaving prison. Susan Dyer Reynolds wrote that Davis grinned, laughed, and flipped off Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, as the jury imposed the death penalty. For the families left behind, actions like this remain part of the painful history surrounding these cases.

Newsom Invokes Faith, But Critics See a Double Standard

Newsom says his Catholic faith shapes his opposition to the death penalty. Critics respond that personal faith does not allow a governor to set aside the law or the repeated decisions of voters. They also point to Newsom’s support for abortion access and to his memoir, released earlier this year, in which he described giving his mother painkillers before a doctor arrived to perform the then-illegal ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ procedure, or euthanasia. The grief surrounding his mother’s illness can be acknowledged while still questioning whether Newsom is applying moral principles selectively.

Victims’ Families Want Answers

One California justice advocate’s open letter argues that these 548 sentences came through trials, evidence, juries, and judicial review. It asks how victims and their families were considered and whether they had a meaningful role in the decision. The letter also raises concern that the timing could serve Newsom’s political positioning and national ambitions. It says constitutional authority does not remove the governor’s duty to explain the standards used to treat hundreds of different cases with one sweeping action. The letter warns that the sweeping decision may not reach 166 cases requiring judicial review and insists that California’s values are not the governor’s alone to define.