In a letter addressed to “all Californians,” Newsom said he believes state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values and undermines the legal system. “I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” he wrote.

California has not executed a prisoner since 2006 and has carried out only 13 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978. Newsom previously imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019. The state has spent $6 billion on the death penalty since 1978, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Newsom wrote that he has concluded the death penalty “has not and cannot be fairly applied, resulting in the conviction of innocent people.” He said that life without the possibility of parole is the most severe punishment he can lawfully impose and that the state can ethically enforce.

The decision comes as Newsom nears the end of his second and final term as governor and is being discussed as a potential 2028 presidential candidate. Columbia University professor Bernard E Harcourt noted that it is not uncommon for potential presidential candidates to take strong ethical positions on such issues, citing former French President François Mitterrand’s similar approach in 1981.

The American Civil Liberties Union praised the move as a step toward justice, calling the death penalty a “racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment.” The Death Penalty Information Center also praised Newsom’s decision, calling it a “decisive moment in the history of the death penalty in the United States.”

Under California law, at least four of seven judges on the California Supreme Court must sign off on the commutations before they become final. The process could take time, and it is unclear how the decision will affect individual cases, such as that of Keith Doolin, who maintains his innocence.

The decision comes amid renewed scrutiny of the death penalty in the U.S., including the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee and the controversial plan to livestream an execution in Alabama.

Newsom acknowledged that the decision would anger and hurt some Californians and that it would “always weigh heavily on me.” Survivor Jess Nichol, whose sister’s killer is on death row, said the decision helped her see that execution is not necessary for healing.