Trump attacks Newsom over death penalty as court considers clemency plan

President Donald Trump has criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom over what he called the halting of the death penalty for 563 prisoners. In a Truth Social post, Trump described the decision as ‘a disaster for Justice in America’, said many of the prisoners had killed ‘over and over again’ and said their victims’ families were devastated. He expressed hope that the decision would be overturned.

His post on 14 November 2026 did not identify a specific decision. Nine days earlier, Newsom announced a plan to commute all existing California death sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His office says the changes will take effect only after the necessary legal steps are complete.

California has not executed anyone since 2006. Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, but that did not change existing sentences. His new plan would change those sentences without abolishing the death penalty in state law. Newsom says he believes state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values; voters rejected proposals to abolish the death penalty in 2012 and 2016.

Newsom’s office and the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, which represents people sentenced to death and supports the plan, counted 548 people under a death sentence when the announcement was made. California’s corrections department listed 561 people as condemned on 4 November. The centre says the prison list can include people whose death sentences have been overturned but who are awaiting resentencing, and that administrative updates can lag behind court decisions. A county prosecutor cited 563 death sentences in October; Trump did not say where his number came from.

Some people on the state’s death-row register were convicted of killings on separate occasions. The Sacramento Bee reported that Eric Leonard was convicted of murdering six people in two robberies a week apart in 1991. The newspaper found that 13 of 28 men on the register with murder cases from the Sacramento region had multiple murder convictions. That regional tally cannot show how many prisoners statewide killed repeatedly.

Relatives of murder victims have expressed different views about execution. Steve Herr, whose son Sam was murdered, told the Associated Press he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by Newsom’s decision and said the execution of his son’s killer would have meant closure. Jess Nichol, sister of murder victim Polly Klaas, said execution was a ‘distraction’ from what survivors need to heal.

For 382 prisoners with more than one felony conviction, Newsom needs a recommendation backed by at least four justices of the California Supreme Court. The court has invited legal submissions by 24 November; the Orange County district attorney has applied to submit a brief opposing the request.