Justice
California has one-quarter of all the nation’s death sentences. Will Newsom commute them all?
More than 560 people still face death sentences in California, despite a longstanding moratorium on executions.
death penalty
Commentary
California courts must address the racial bias in death penalty sentencing
In May, the California Supreme Court ruled that a suit by public defenders to confront apparent racial bias in death penalty sentencing could proceed.
Justice
He spent 19 years in isolation on death row. Then the handcuffs came off
Gov. Gavin Newsom gave condemned prisoners a chance to live differently when he suspended the death penalty. They aren't free and many will never be released, but now they have opportunities to grow.
Justice
In a first, California Supreme Court reverses a death sentence under new racial justice law
A Los Angeles prosecutor likened a Black murder suspect to a Bengal tiger. Decades later, the California Supreme Court found that trope showed unacceptable racial bias.
Justice
Newsom changed California prisons. What will the justice system look like after he leaves?
Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed California's prison system to embrace rehabilitation for incarcerated people. Will it be a lasting shift?
Justice
They were convicted of gang crimes. New California Supreme Court rulings trim their sentences
Two new California Supreme Court rulings sided with prisoners contesting past gang-related charges, decisions that could affect 'three strikes' cases.
Justice
New Alameda County DA changes course on historic death penalty resentencing
Evidence of racial bias in jury selection led Alameda County to review dozens of death penalty cases. A new district attorney is withdrawing from that effort.
Justice
A DA kept Black women off a jury. California’s Supreme Court says that wasn’t racial bias
A federal judge in April ordered Alameda County to review more than 30 of its death penalty convictions after evidence emerged suggesting the District Attorney’s Office blocked Black and Jewish people from serving on juries. This week, the California Supreme Court upheld a capital sentence from a trial that had no Black jurors.
Justice
Gavin Newsom moves to ‘transform’ San Quentin as California prison population shrinks
San Quentin housed California’s death row for decades. Now Gov. Newsom wants the prison on San Francisco Bay to emphasize rehabilitation and helping inmates re-enter society.
Politics
Is this another way to end California’s death penalty?
Instead of outright abolition, opponents of the California death penalty are pushing legislation to limit death sentences. But the blowback to Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to dismantle Death Row at San Quentin demonstrates the political risk.