On the front steps of Leonardo da Vinci's house, the Château du Clos Lucé, in Amboise, France in 2006 (left) and yesterday. Always good to take a refresher course on his brilliance.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Today's decision by @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom to commute California's death row is the single largest grant of death-row clemency in U.S. history and the largest reduction in the U.S. death-row population since Furman v. Georgia struck down all existing death 2.

Furman vacated the death sentences of 630 prisoners across the United States. Today's proposed grant of universal clemency will remove 538 people from death row.

The next largest reduction in the U.S. death row population came in 1976 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared mandatory death penalty statutes to be unconstitutional. Those rulings, in Woodson v. North Carolina and Roberts v. Louisiana, took 326 people in ten states off death row.

Governor Newsom's grant of universal clemency surpasses President Lincoln's commutation of 264 Dakota tribesmen after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 as the largest single act of death-penalty clemency. Lincoln's commutations, however, still left 39 death sentences in place, leading to the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

Previously, the largest modern grant of death-row clemency was on January 10 and 11, 2003 when Illinois Governor George Ryan pardoned four death-row prisoners and commuted the death sentences of 167 others, clearing the state's death row and leading to the state's subsequent abolition of the death penalty on March 9, 2011.

Gavin Newsom Issues Commutations for All 548 Californians Facing Execution. themarshallproject.org/2026/11/05/new… @MarshallProj @MauriceChammah @Jill_Castellano @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp #California #deathpenalty

The California constitution requires that @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom obtain approval (technically a "recommendation") from the California Supreme Court before he can formally commute the death sentences of the 382 death-row prisoners who have been convicted of more than one felony. ernor sent an Explanatory Statement — Proposed Death Penalty Clemency Action to the Court requesting that approval. You can read that statement at this link: gov.ca.gov/wp-content/upl… @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp @ACLU @ACLU_NorCal @ACLU_SoCal @ellabakercenter @NAACP_LDF @WTIUSA #deathpenalty

.@CAgovernor @GavinNewsom has released this open letter to the people of California explaining his decision to commute the death sentences of all of the prisoners on the state's death row
gov.ca.gov/wp-content/upl… @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp @amnesty @hrw @ACLU @NAACP_LDF #deathpenalty

Newsom moves to commute all California death sentences to life in prison without parole. latimes.com/california/sto… @latimes @TarynLuna @sic_sonja @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom #deathpenalty

Newsom Commutes the Sentences of California’s 548 Death Row Inmates. Gov. Gavin Newsom, in one of his last acts, commuted the sentences of all prisoners with death sentences, calling capital punishment morally objectionable. That’s about a quarter of death sentences nationwide. nytimes.com/2026/11/05/us/… @nytimes @LaurelRosenhall @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA @uscedp #deathpenalty

.@CAgovernor @GavinNewsom is almost out of office. Will he empty California’s death row first? Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has signaled he is weighing a move that would eliminate a quarter of the country’s death sentences. washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/… @washingtonpost @kemettler @DPFocus @SmartJusticeCA #deathpenalty

As execution issues grew, Tennessee made the process more secretive. "The procedure has been plagued with problems since the state adopted it in 2000. The Drug Enforcement Administration once seized the state's lethal injection drugs. The Tennessee Department of Correction has likely executed two people using expired, compromised or untested drugs. State officials have incorrectly testified that untested drugs had been tested for contamination." tennessean.com/story/news/cri… @Tennessean @EvanMealins @KellyPuenteTN @Tndeathpenalty @DeliberatoMaria @TNOpenGovt @uscedp @rcfp @Reprieve @amnesty @CCATDP @UNHumanRights #TonyCarruthers #ChristaPike #deathpenalty

Indiana executes Jeffrey Weisheit for 2010 murders of two children. Hours before the execution, Weisheit’s attorney urged Gov. Mike Braun to intervene and said scrutiny of Indiana’s drug purchases would continue. indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/11/05/ind… @INCapChronicle @SmithCaseyA @INAbolition @ACLU_IND @incatholicconf @Reprieve @amnesty @uscedp #deathpenalty

Here is the Indiana Supreme Court’s order by a 3-2 vote denying a stay of execution for Jeffrey Weisheit. in.gov/courts/files/o… @INAbolition @uscedp #deathpenalty

3 executions scheduled for the same day in Indiana, Florida and Alabama. apnews.com/article/execut… @AP @StatehouseKim @DavidWFischer @INAbolition @FADPorg @PHADP @uscedp @WCADP @AssoECPM #JeffreyWeisheit #JesseGuardado #MichaelTaylor #deathpenalty

A divided Indiana Supreme Court votes 3-2 to deny stay of execution for Jeffrey Weisheit. According to court pleadings, the state's drug supplier, @Pharmaneek, donated $5,000 to Attorney General Todd Rokita's campaign in June and "received a hefty markup for providing a drug that it could not have obtained except by working to avoid strict controls that FDA manufacturers include in contracts." wthr.com/article/news/c… @WTHRcom @INAbolition @uscedp @CCATDP @Reprieve @amnesty @pharmacists #deathpenalty

Lawyers rush to halt Indiana execution over state’s lethal drug supplier. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/l… Pharmaneek, the compounding pharmacy that supplied Indiana’s execution drugs, “is scheduled to appear before the Indiana Board of Pharmacy on Monday ... over allegations that the pharmacy violated its probation after failed inspections by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. ... ”

According to an FDA inspection report from March 2026, the “facility is not maintained in a good state of repair, creating unsanitary conditions whereby drug products may be contaminated with filth.” @NBCNews @_abigailbrooks @erikjhortiz @INAbolition @uscedp @Reprieve @amnesty @rcfp @POGOwatchdog #deathpenalty

Indiana plans execution using drugs from pharmacy facing state probe, lawyer says. Attorneys for Jeffrey Weisheit have asked the state to call off the scheduled lethal injection. washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/11… @washingtonpost @kemettler @INAbolition @ACLU_IND @incatholicconf @CCATDP @uscedp @Reprieve @amnesty #deathpenalty

As Indiana prepares to execute Jeffrey Weisheit on Thursday, concerns plague run-up. indystar.com/story/news/cri… @indystar @catecharron @INAbolition @ACLU_IND @incatholicconf @uscedp @Reprieve @amnesty @rcfp @POGOwatchdog #deathpenalty

Indiana governor denies clemency to death row prisoner Jeffrey Weisheit ahead of Thursday execution. The governor’s statement did not address a separate request to pause the execution over drug sourcing and lethal injection concerns, however. indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/11/02/ind… @INCapChronicle @SmithCaseyA @INAbolition @uscedp @ACLU_IND @incatholicconf @Reprieve @amnesty @CCATDP #deathpenalty