Colusa County District Attorney Matthew Beauchamp and Yuba County District Attorney Clint Curry are among California legal officials urging Governor Newsom to not commute the death sentences of 560 inmates. The appeal, spearheaded by the California District Attorney Association (CDAA) with official support from both local DAs, encourages the governor to uphold current sentences before he leaves office in January. Governor Newsom has not announced a formal decision regarding the commutations.
In a letter to the governor dated Oct. 23, CDAA President Jeannine M. Pacioni stated that each death sentence in California represents a case where a jury weighed evidence and circumstances to determine the most severe punishment under state law. Pacioni emphasized that these decisions were not made lightly and have undergone decades of court review. To erase these judgments without considering individual facts or affected families would constitute a significant disservice to the administration of justice. Pacioni further argued that a mass commutation would betray victims, their families, jurors who wrestled with the evidence, judges who followed the law, and the majority of California voters who have repeatedly affirmed support for the death penalty at the ballot box.
Yuba DA Clint Curry specifically highlighted the county's single death sentence case involving Eric Houston, linked to one of the nation's first school shootings. On May 1, 1992, Houston entered Lindhurst High School with a shotgun and rifle, killing civics teacher Robert Brens, 28, and students Judith “Judy” Davis, 17, Jason White, 19, and Beamon A. Hill, 16. Court records show Houston confessed to holding a grudge against Brens. He also wounded many others and held more than 80 students hostage for hours. A jury found Houston guilty of four counts of murder, nine counts of attempted murder, and one count of false imprisonment. He was sentenced to death by a judge on Sept. 20, 1993, and was initially incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. Inmate records indicate Houston has since been moved to Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, where he remains on death row.
California voters have previously rejected measures to repeal the death penalty, voting against Proposition 34 in 2012. Four years later, in 2016, voters approved Proposition 62, which aimed to expedite the execution process. The state's last execution occurred on January 17, 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen was put to death by lethal injection after being convicted of murdering three people.
Shortly after taking office in 2019, Governor Newsom issued an executive order placing a moratorium on executions in California. State records show Newsom declared the death penalty system a failure, citing issues such as discrimination, mental illness, and defendants' inability to afford legal representation. He also argued that it offers "no public safety benefit or value as a deterrent." In January 2022, Newsom announced the dismantling of the state’s death row building at San Quentin State Prison, relocating inmates sentenced to death to other maximum security state prisons and replacing Death Row with an inmate learning center.
The statewide debate surrounding capital punishment intensified nationally following a botched execution in Tennessee earlier this fall. Local resident Leonard Henson of Yuba City, an Army veteran, expressed hope that the governor will maintain the death sentences, asserting that it is “appropriate” in certain circumstances, even if state infrastructure is lacking. Henson stated, "People need to be responsible for their actions." Former Attorney General Javier Becerra, now a Gubernatorial Candidate, has expressed concerns about perceived racism and irregularities within the death penalty system, while also acknowledging its necessity. His Republican opponent, Steve Hilton, opposes both a moratorium on the death penalty and the death penalty itself, arguing that responding to a serious crime by taking a life does not strengthen the argument against taking a life.
The governor's formal decision on the commutation of 560 death sentences is pending.