Gavin Newsom’s decision to empty his state’s death row is a truly remarkable moment in the US’s death penalty history.
asserted
decision → empty → history
Not only will it free hundreds of people from the threat of execution, but coming from a politician seemingly looking to run for the presidency, it sends an important signal that America’s attachment to capital punishment is weakening, and opposing the death penalty is no longer a third rail in US politics.
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opposing → free → politics
When the news broke about Newsom’s clemency, I thought back to the moment in 1988 when the Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis ended whatever hope he had of becoming president by sticking to his opposition to capital punishment after the CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?”
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you → break → killer
As Politico notes: “Dukakis answered instantly and smoothly.
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Dukakis → note → ?
‘No, I don’t, Bernard …
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I → do → ?
And I think you know that I’ve opposed the death penalty during all of my life.’
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I → think → life
Dukakis didn’t believe in capital punishment.
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Dukakis → believe → punishment
He had seen all the studies, and he didn’t believe it deterred crime.”
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it → see → crime
“In the press room,” Politico adds, “the murmurs over Shaw’s question now turned to mutters over Dukakis’ answer.
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murmurs → add → answer
‘He’s through.’
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He → ’ → ?
‘That’s all she wrote.’
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she → ’ → ?
‘Get the hook!’”
Even with that lesson looming over him, Newsom’s decision to grant a universal clemency was not hedged or spun in any way.
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decision → get → way
It is the latest and most consequential of a series of things Newsom has done to rid his state of the death penalty.
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Newsom → do → penalty
Before looking back at that record, let’s note what Newsom said when he announced his decision.
“The people sentenced to death in California caused indescribable suffering to victims, their families, communities, and our state as a whole … many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die.
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who → look → crimes
But as governor, I have concluded that the state cannot morally kill them.”
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state → conclude → them
“Faithfulness to our values is measured by how we act when it is most difficult to uphold them.
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it → measure → them
Today, I’m acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sponsored killing.
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we → act → killing
Newsom noted: “Some have said I should not grant clemency to people who committed the worst of the worst crimes …
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who → note → crimes
I have learned, however, from speaking with the victims harmed by these crimes, that each experiences their loss as the worst of the worst.
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each → learn → worst
I have concluded that attempting to distinguish among crimes and offenders for clemency would inadvertently create two classes of murder victims, those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and the rest.
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perpetrators → conclude → penalty
There are several people who will benefit from Newsom’s decision who certainly qualify as among the worst of the worst.
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who → be → worst
They include the serial killer Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993.
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who → include → 1993
As Newsweek explains: “Davis kidnapped Klaas from her bedroom in Petaluma at knifepoint and strangled her to death.
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Davis → explain → death
Klaas’ disappearance sparked a nationwide search.
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disappearance → spark → search
Davis was arrested two months later and led police to her body, which was found in a shallow grave.
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which → arrest → grave
The case led to California’s passage of a ‘three strikes’ law in 1994 that set longer sentences for repeat offenders.”
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that → lead → offenders
Then there is Joseph Naso, “known as the ‘Alphabet Killer,’ who was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of the killings of four women with matching initials between 1977 and 1994”.
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who → be → 1977
And Cary Stayner, “‘the Yosemite Park Killer’ [who] was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1999 murders of four women near Yosemite National Park”.
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who → sentence → Park
It takes extraordinary and exemplary courage to spare their lives.
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It → take → lives
Contrast Newsom’s willingness to include them in his mass clemency with Joe Biden’s decision not to spare the lives of three of the 40 people who were on federal death row in December 2024.
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who → contrast → December
The president seemed to concede that they deserved to be executed.
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they → seem → ?
Throughout his service as California governor, Newsom has demonstrated the kind of moral clarity about the death penalty that is all too often missing in our national discourse.
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that → demonstrate → discourse
He showed it in 2019 when he imposed a moratorium on executions in his state.
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he → show → state
The American Bar Association praised that decision and explained: “The decision to impose a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment so early in his term was for him personally the culmination of a 40-year journey of thinking through the consequences and morality of the death penalty.”
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decision → praise → penalty
As the ABA observes: “At the same time Governor Newsom announced the moratorium, he also directed San Quentin State Prison to decommission its execution chamber.
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he → observe → chamber
The governor knows that Americans are ready to move on and put the death penalty in the rearview mirror.
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Americans → know → mirror
Even after the horrors of Christa Pike’s failed execution and 5 November’s three executions in one day, the readiness to end the death penalty is there.
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readiness → fail → penalty
We need leaders to step forward and encourage this country to abolish the death penalty.
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leaders → need → penalty
Newsom gets this, which takes on added importance since the present occupant of the White House does not.
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occupant → get → House
His clemency offers both inspiration and a model for governors in other death-penalty states.
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clemency → offer → states
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
