Gavin Newsom Moves To Spare 548 Death Row Inmates, Including the Convicted Killer of 12-Year-Old Polly Klaas

Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, 5 November, that he would commute all 548 death sentences in California to life without parole, including that of Richard Allen Davis, who murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas.

The governor imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, but hundreds of prisoners remained on death row. His latest decision seeks to replace those sentences, although 382 commutations require California Supreme Court approval, according to figures from his office.

Davis kidnapped Polly from her home in 1993 before killing her. Newsom's decision has exposed differing views within her family, with her father opposing clemency and her stepsister supporting it.

The commutations would not release prisoners or abolish California's death penalty, which would remain available for future cases.

Polly Klaas's Family Responds to Gavin Newsom

Marc Klaas described renewed distress at the prospect of his daughter's killer having his death sentence commuted. He had also opposed Newsom's earlier moratorium.

'It regurgitates the horrible emotions,' he stated. 'It just leaves me feeling raw and angry.'

Jess Nichol, Polly's stepsister, took a different position. She and another sister met Newsom at San Quentin in October and encouraged him to commute every death sentence.

Nichol, who is not Marc Klaas's daughter, initially believed Polly's killer deserved death. She later concluded that resources supporting victims' recovery would be more beneficial than capital punishment. She now facilitates rehabilitation programmes at San Quentin.

'I want to live in a world where I am well, and not haunted by the hungry ghost of vengeance,' Nichol stated.

Newsom's Moral Objection to Executions

In an open letter to California residents, Newsom described the decision as among the most difficult of his career because of the painful memories it could revive for victims' families.

He wrote, '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.'

The American Civil Liberties Union welcomed the announcement. Its executive director, Anthony Romero, described the commutations as an end to a punishment the organisation considers racist, error-prone and inhumane.

The ACLU is involved in an ongoing legal challenge alleging that California's death penalty statute is racially discriminatory and unconstitutional. Voters rejected a ballot measure that would have repealed the death penalty in 2016.

Court Scrutiny Awaits Newsom's Plan

Anne Marie Schubert, a former Sacramento County district attorney who leads the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, plans to challenge Newsom's commutations in court. She contends that each case must be considered individually rather than through a blanket commutation.

Before the announcement, Schubert described families' distress at the prospect of sentences being reduced. She had written a seven-page letter to Newsom containing victims' photographs and detailed accounts of crimes committed by prisoners on death row.

Some prosecutors and victims' rights advocates opposed the move during months of lobbying by death penalty opponents.

California's constitution requires the state Supreme Court to approve clemency for anyone convicted of a felony more than once. The 382 cases identified by Newsom's office account for roughly 70% of the proposed commutations.

A California Supreme Court spokeswoman declined to comment on how long the review could take.