CCDPW Statement on Commutation of CA’s Death Row

The Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide (CCDPW) commends Governor Gavin Newsom on his historic decision to seek commutation of California’s death row. With this courageous first step, the governor has signaled a respect for human rights and justice while reducing the largest death row population in the Western Hemisphere. We are honored to have worked in solidarity with the dedicated California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition on this effort. 

With 548 people condemned to die, California has the largest death row population in the Americas and the largest concentration of death-sentenced women in the United States. For women, capital trials are infected with the dehumanization of racial and gender injustices. Prior to this historic decision, we provided key data to the coalition and Governor Newsom’s office on the pervasive gendered injustices that infect women’s capital trials. In the coming days, we will release our report, The Gendered Violence of California’s Death Row. Below is a short excerpt: 

“As of June 2026, there were forty-five women on death row in the United States. California currently houses nearly forty percent of these women—the largest concentration of women on death row in the nation and the Americas (1).  The infection of women’s capital trials with gender injustice is an issue of national and international significance. Recent national attention to the case of Christa Pike (2) brought forward the issues we have long raised: women’s pathways to death row are steeped in experiences of gender-based violence that are ignored by judicial actors, and the death penalty constitutes the ultimate act of gender-based violence. “

Emblematic of racism and sexism, the death penalty disproportionately targets poor people, BIPOC people, and survivors of gender based violence. Newsom’s intention to commute California’s death row is a critically important step forward towards abolition and human rights for all. This moment has been made possible by the tenacious efforts of nearly 200 organizations in the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition working towards the common goal of universal clemency in California. Today’s historic decision teaches us that we can change even the most entrenched injustices. 

 1 See Women, Death Penalty Info. Ctr., https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-row/women (last visited Oct. 13, 2026). This count includes “transgender women who transitioned after being sentenced to death.” Id. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), as of November 3, 2026, there are eighteen women on death row in the state. See Condemned Inmate Summary, California Dep’t of Corr. and Rehab., https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/condemned-inmate-summary-report/ (last visited Nov. 3, 2026).

2 It is important to note that Christa is a survivor of a childhood sexual violence, neglect, and abuse. See Christa Pike, Child Rape Victim, Faces Execution for Crime She Committed as a Teenager, Cornell Ctr. on the Death Penalty Worldwide, https://dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/advocacy/christa-pike/#case-background (last visited Nov. 3, 2026).