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California Governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, announced this Thursday that he will commute the death sentences of the 548 inmates in the state awaiting execution, reducing their sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
"I am taking this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned execution is inconsistent with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes us all," Newsom said in an open letter.
Newsom's announcement comes weeks after the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, the woman who survived two doses of lethal injection.
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Newsom can commute the sentences of prisoners with a single felony conviction on his own, but according to the independent outlet CalMatters, the California Supreme Court must approve the commutations of those with multiple felony convictions.
The governor established a moratorium on executions in the state in March 2019, shortly after taking office. California has maintained a moratorium on carrying out death sentences since 2006, when the last execution took place.
The Democrat said that while the moratorium has prevented further executions, all death sentences have remained in effect.
The 548 individuals currently under death sentence in California make up the "largest" death row in the Western Hemisphere, he stressed.
In a statement, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Anthony D. Romero, asserted that the commutations "reflect what justice demands: the end of a racist, unfair, and inhumane punishment that has weighed down California for too long."
"By taking this step, Governor Newsom has reaffirmed that the death penalty has no place in California and has demonstrated true courage by confronting racial injustice head-on," he added.
No one has been executed in California since 2006. The state's death row includes notorious killers like Richard Allen Davis, Cary Stayner, and Charles Ng.
[Publicidad]