Newsom commutes death sentences for 548 California prisoners

Where Left and Right agree, and where they split

Where Left and Right agree

Newsom's commutation of all 548 death sentences to life without parole rests entirely on his personal opposition to executions, not on any new review of individual cases.

Where Left and Right split

Whether this is about a dormant death penalty finally being retired in practice, or about one governor's stated belief overriding 548 jury verdicts and a law voters kept on the books.

Why they won’t converge

The split is over trust in institutions: one reading treats unilateral executive clemency as a legitimate corrective to a stalled system, the other treats it as a governor overriding juries, appeals courts, and voters who kept the law on the books.

Watch for

The commutations will require review by the California Supreme Court in some cases, and that review could draw legal challenges that test whether the action stands.The New York Times