California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing mounting criticism from prosecutors after announcing Thursday that he would commute the sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row. The sweeping decision, however, may still face significant legal hurdles.
District attorneys throughout California condemned the move, drawing attention to victims including Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford and Kesha Gurke. The three college students were murdered in the late 1990s by Rex Allan Krebs, a serial rapist who had been released on parole.
Newhouse was tied up with rope and raped inside an abandoned cabin. Crawford, 20, was beaten until she lost consciousness before being strangled. Gurke suffered such a brutal beating that her intestines were severed.
“Governor Newsom just told the families of Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford, Kesha Gurke and every other innocent victim of California’s 548 condemned killers that the killers’ lives matter more,” Dan Dow, the San Luis Obispo County district attorney, said in a social media statement.
“Juries chose justice case by case, voters chose it five times, and one outgoing governor tried to erase it all with a pen,” Dow added.
Dow’s office also pointed to a provision in the California Constitution that prohibits commuting the sentences of people convicted of two felonies unless the California Supreme Court recommends clemency with the support of at least four justices.
Newsom acknowledged that his sweeping action could be subject to restrictions. He noted that the state Constitution requires the Supreme Court to review clemency decisions involving people with two felony convictions.
“While I am confident this act of categorical clemency is consistent with California law, I acknowledge that my decision to exercise my constitutional clemency authority requires the Justices to participate in a weighty decision they did not choose to take up and with which they may personally disagree,” Newsom wrote in a lengthy letter to the public.
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“I profoundly appreciate the integrity and expertise the Court brings to the task of clemency review,” he continued.
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The San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office said 342 of the 548 people on death row have been convicted of two felonies.
The office has asked the state’s high court to examine every case individually and consider testimony from the families of those killed.
“Clemency is an extraordinary power intended to provide relief when the facts and circumstances of an individual case justify it,” Greg Totten, CEO of the California District Attorneys Association, said in a statement.
“It was never intended to serve as a substitute for the legislative process or to allow one elected official to effectively nullify hundreds of jury verdicts simply because he disagrees with the law. The Governor has turned an extraordinary constitutional safeguard into a sweeping instrument of personal policy,” Totten said.
A spokesperson for the California Supreme Court told The Post that the court had no comment.
Meanwhile, victim advocacy organizations are questioning whether Newsom’s unprecedented decision is legally valid. Anne Marie Schubert, a former district attorney who now heads the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, told The Post that her group plans to challenge the action in court.
“There’s going to be a number of arguments that we will make, but at the end of the day, we are doing this on behalf of crime victims and the rule of law,” Schubert said.
