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California governor to spare lives of all 548 death row prisoners in state

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Sacramento: California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would change all death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Newsom’s decision comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years. In 2019 he placed a moratorium on executions in the state but hundreds of people remained on death row.

“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,” Newsom said in an open letter on Thursday (US time).

Newsom moved to grant clemency to 548 people who are currently sentenced to death in California, of which 529 are men and 19 are women, according to numbers provided by his office.

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