纽森宣布将加州全部死刑减为终身监禁：548名死囚一律不得假释
加利福尼亚州州长 Gavin Newsom 11月5日在州府 Sacramento（萨克拉门托县）发布致全体加州居民的公开信，宣布行使州长赦免权，将加州全部死刑判决一律减为终身监禁、不得假释。加州目前共有548人被判处死刑，是西半球规模最大的死囚群体。
纽森在信中写道：「我已决定动用宪法赋予我的赦免权，将加州全部死刑减为终身监禁、不得假释。」他表示：「由国家施行的杀戮与加州的价值不相容，动摇我们法律体系的根基，也贬损我们每一个人。」他从政近30年，近30年来一直公开反对死刑。
纽森2019年3月13日就任州长后不久即下令暂停执行死刑，把2006年以来事实上已停摆的执行正式叫停——加州最后一次执行死刑是在2006年。他在信中指出，暂停令只阻止了行刑，死刑判决本身一直保留至今，这正是他此次一并处理的原因。
纽森表示，他认真考虑过按罪行类别与罪犯特征区别处理，但最终决定不作区分。他写道：「我将向每一名死囚发出同样的减刑——终身监禁、不得假释，这是我依法所能施加的最严厉惩罚，也是加州能够合乎伦理地执行的惩罚。」他写道，这些罪犯「将在监狱里死去，但不是死于我们之手」。部分死刑案件已在法院积压40多年，此举将为这些案件画上句号。
纽森在信中承认，这一宣布可能重新揭开受害者家属痛苦的记忆，他尊重强烈反对这一决定的看法，包括部分受害者家属。信中同时指出，过去14年里加州选民三度就死刑存废投票，两次选择保留，其中包括2016年以微弱差距保留；但他认为，选民意愿不能凌驾于道德、人性与正义的要求之上，因此选择行使赦免权，而不是等未来的投票去纠正一个无法修复的制度。
按加州宪法，对曾两次被判重罪者的赦免须经加州最高法院审查。纽森表示，这一决定将启动由首席大法官与各位大法官参与的跨部门宪法程序，他承认过程可能带来复杂局面与不确定性，但欢迎最高法院介入。对只有一次重罪定罪的死囚，州长可直接减刑。赦免程序信息见加州州长办公室赦免信息页。
消息公布后，美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）及旗下加州各分会发表声明表示欢迎，ACLU 执行主任 Anthony D. Romero 称，纽森「宣布将减免加州每一个死刑判决、清空全美最大的死囚区，就此创造了历史」。此前数月，加州地方检察官协会与警察局长协会等执法界团体曾公开敦促纽森不要一揽子减刑，San Luis Obispo 县地方检察官 Dan Dow 10月23日致信州长，要求逐案审议并在每一项赦免决定中写明受害者姓名。
（来源：加州州长办公室）
Newsom to Commute All California Death Sentences to Life Without Parole for All 548 Condemned Prisoners
California Governor Gavin Newsom on November 5 released an open letter to the people of California from the state capital, Sacramento, in Sacramento County, announcing that he will exercise his constitutional clemency authority to commute every death sentence in California to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A total of 548 people are now under sentence of death in California, the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.
"I have decided to exercise my constitutional clemency authority to commute all California death sentences to life without the possibility of parole," Newsom wrote. "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." Newsom has spent nearly 30 years in public office and has openly opposed state-sanctioned executions for nearly three decades.
Soon after taking office, on March 13, 2019, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, formalizing the de facto halt in place since 2006, the last year California executed anyone. In the letter, he noted that the moratorium prevented further executions but left all death sentences in place, which is what this action now addresses.
Newsom said he had carefully considered distinguishing among categories of capital crimes and offender characteristics, but decided against it. "I will therefore issue the same commutation to every condemned person - life without the possibility of parole, the most severe punishment I can lawfully impose and the state of California can ethically enforce," he wrote. "These offenders will die in prison but not by our hand." Some of the capital cases have been languishing in the courts for more than 40 years, and the governor said the action will bring them to a close.
Newsom acknowledged that the announcement may surface excruciating memories for victims' families, and said he deeply respects the views of those who will strongly disagree, including some victims' families. He also noted that California voters have voted three times in the last 14 years on whether to retain the death penalty and twice voted to retain it, including by a narrow margin in 2016, but wrote that the will of the voters cannot supersede the demands of morality, humanity, and justice, and that he chose to lead by exercising his clemency power rather than wait for a future voter decision.
Under California's Constitution, clemency grants to people twice convicted of a felony require review by the California Supreme Court. Newsom said the decision compels the involvement of the Chief Justice and Associate Justices in a unique inter-branch constitutional process, acknowledged it may complicate matters and create uncertainty, and said he welcomes the court's involvement. For condemned prisoners with a single felony conviction, the governor can commute directly. Clemency information is available at the Office of the Governor clemency page.
After the announcement, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its California affiliates issued statements welcoming the move. ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero said Newsom "made history by announcing his intention to commute every death sentence in California and clear the largest death row in the nation." In the preceding months, law enforcement groups including the California District Attorneys Association and police chiefs had publicly urged Newsom not to grant a blanket commutation; San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow wrote to the governor on October 23 asking that each case be considered on its own facts and that victims be named in every clemency decision.
(Source: Office of the Governor of California)
来源：加州州长办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：加州州长 Gavin Newsom 在州长讲台前举行新闻发布会（2025年5月14日）。照片：加州州长办公室，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom at a press conference at the governor's podium on May 14, 2025. Photo by the Office of the Governor of California, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
- 2026-10-09 13:25纽森考虑为加州563名死囚全体减刑 若成行全美死囚将减少逾四分之一
- 2026-11-05 11:44纽森宣布将加州全部死刑减为终身监禁：548名死囚一律不得假释本篇
