Newsom Considers Commuting Death Row Sentences
We’ll discuss Newsom’s death penalty decision and its impact on his future and capital punishment debate.
Governor of California Gavin Newsom is pictured during a recorded interview with AFP in the Manhattan borough of New York City on September 23, 2026. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
Airdate: Tuesday, October 12, 2026 at 10 AM
Amid the news of Tennessee’s botched execution of Christa Pike and the Pentagon saying it will live-stream its execution of an army psychiatrist convicted of a mass shooting, Gov. Gavin Newsom is said to be considering commuting the sentences of the 563 people currently on death row in California. The state is home to a quarter of all American prisoners awaiting the death penalty, though a moratorium on executions has been in place since 2019. We’ll talk about what factors Newsom is weighing and hear how commuting death penalty sentences could affect Newsom’s national political profile and the broader conversation about capital punishment in the United States.
Guests:
- Natasha Minsker, facilitator, California Anti Death Penalty Coalition
- Maurice Chammah, staff writer, The Marshall Project
- Alexa Hansen, founder, Victim Advocate Angels