Man on death row for Berkeley double murder is among 548 spared by Gov. Newsom

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

65% : Already, anti-death penalty groups have released an ad invoking Martin Luther King, Jr. that praises Newsom's move as "rooted in justice, guided by conscience and made with courage."
53% : Along with other signature Newsom moves like his early recognition of same-sex marriages as San Francisco mayor in 2004, it could boost his standing among Democrats as a bold actor pushing forward liberal causes, while inviting criticism from the center and right and from tougher-on-crime advocates.
46% : That addresses some concerns prosecutors, victims' groups and supporters of the death penalty had expressed as they anticipated Newsom's decision: that those newly sentenced to life might get a chance later to be released.
43% : The commutations are a monumental move in the history of capital punishment in America: The prisoners represent more than a quarter of the nation's condemned inmates.
43% : It was just three years after voters rejected a ballot measure to abolish the death penalty and instead approved one to speed them up.
40% : "There's 548 people on death row.
40% : He said after meeting with them over the years, he considered commuting only some sentences but "that attempting to distinguish among crimes and offenders for clemency would inadvertently create two classes of murder victims -- those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and then the rest.
39% : And it is a decision Newsom, a longtime opponent of the death penalty, has spoken about in starkly personal terms.
39% : "I'm shocked, when I talk to legislators and tell them to oppose it, they say we don't have the death penalty in California," she said.
39% : Mary McComb, the former state public defender, said from her first case defending a man with intellectual disabilities who was charged with a capital offense, she has found a moral reason to oppose the death penalty.
34% : Since 2024, death row has been a metaphorical place.
33% : Gov. Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of 548 prisoners, among them a former Berkeley man who killed his sister and nephew, clearing the California death row for the first time since the state conducted hangings in the late 19th century.
32% : Newsom's decision stands out as the largest act of mass clemency in U.S. history, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
31% : Then-President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row prisoners in 2024.
27% : " Newsom said those with the commuted sentences will not be eligible for new Board of Parole Hearings commutation and resentencing regulations.
21% : Natasha Minsker, former director of the American Civil Liberties Union of California's Center for Advocacy and Policy, said the death penalty is now a forgotten part of California politics.
20% : But a recent botched execution attempt in Tennessee and the Trump administration's suggestion of televised executions has thrown the nation into a renewed national debate over capital punishment.

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