SACRAMENTO, CA – “Death penalty opponents on Monday called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to commute the sentences of more than 600 people condemned to California’s death row to life without the possibility of parole after President Joe Biden spared the lives of 37 inmates at the federal level,” wrote The Sacramento Bee this week.
The Bee added, “Biden’s move to re-sentence all but three federal death penalty inmates came just days after Sacramento County prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty a second time against Adel Ramos, who pleaded guilty in August to the ambush killing of Sacramento police rookie Tara O’Sullivan in 2019.”
Despite this, “California has not executed a prisoner since 2006 and has dismantled its death chamber but prosecutors continue to seek capital punishment, leading to costs of $72 million per year for legal proceedings and a backlog in assigning prisoners lawyers of up to 30 years” according to the Bee.
Members from the California Catholic Conference of Bishops, the American Civil Liberties Union and groups opposing the death penalty urged Newsom to convert the sentences of condemned inmates in the state, according to the Bee.
“If Gov. Newsom commutes 600 death sentences, effectively that’s the end of the death penalty in California,” said Natasha Minsker, a lawyer with the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition.
California Catholic Conference of Bishops Executive Director Kathleen Domingo said, “While there has not been an execution in California in 18 years, these men and women deserve to be allowed to live without the constant fear of execution,” in a letter to the governor.
Tara Gallegos, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office, said in a statement noting, “Life without the possibility of parole is an acceptable alternative, honoring the suffering that families and loved ones of murder victims endure while also offering mercy and rehabilitation to the perpetrators…The idea of commuting death row sentences has long been under consideration,” wrote the Bee.
The Sacramento Bee added Newsom has yet to commute any sentences thus far and with “two years left on his final term as governor, is likely balancing his own opposition to the death penalty with the possibility of political blowback that could affect any future ambitions,” said Elisabeth Semel, founding director of the Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic.
