Newsom closed death row. He's not exactly exaggerating that.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been one of the most progressive governors on criminal justice reform, but he doesn't really want to overdo it now.

There is no greater example of this than Death Row, which I had the opportunity to visit last week.

A Hollywood designer can't do better when it comes to ragtag horror.

The men are detained for up to 148 hours each week in cramped concrete cells, 4 feet wide, the walls cracked with layers of faded institutional paint. This means about 20 hours every seven days for exercise, showers and sunshine.

The rest of the time they were held behind bars covered with steel mesh so thick that it was impossible to see through until I stuck my nose into it.

No one leaves those cages without chains – on their waists and wrists. Seriously, I saw an old man chained to his walker.

But corrections officer Andrei Akinshyn, who has guarded the giant black doors at the entrance to the death row wing for more than a decade, told me he loved every minute of it. He loves the camaraderie of the isolated cells, and loves hearing the stories of their occupants, many of whom have lived there for decades.

He added: “Prisoners are human beings.” “I will be sad to see them go.”

Grim situation, no reaper

California closes death row at San Quentin.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By the end of the summer, they will be gone and the death row will no longer exist.

No one has been executed in California in decades, and Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in 2019 that no one would be on his watch.

He dismantled the execution chamber and promised to do away with the death penalty as separate (and expensive) cells, instead transferring condemned prisoners to the general population. More than 100 men have already been transferred, as have all 20 women convicted in California.

Along with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's announcement last week that the demise of the death penalty is imminent, three other pieces of death penalty news dropped this week:

Donald Trump renewed his call for a mandatory death penalty for the killing of law enforcement officers at the memorial to the slain New York informant. Santa Clara County District Atty. Jeff Rosen is calling for 15 of his county's death sentences to be converted to life without parole (LWOP), citing inherent problems with the death penalty including systemic racism (LA Times Exclusive). At Friday's hearing, Richard Allen Davis, who in 1993 would have asked for the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klass, had his death penalty conviction overturned based on a law that took effect in 2022. Unsurprisingly, Polly's father, Mark Klass, opposed , that's hard.

The policy is not hidden

Mark Klass is a leading advocate for tougher punishments for crimes, and he has suffered a loss that is difficult for me to even imagine. His opposition to giving Davis life without parole will likely draw media attention to the hearing and the overall case, which you can read about here.

Klass told me that he sees Newsom's move to close Death Row and the possibility of Davis being re-sentenced.

He said: “In my opinion, these two matters completely negate the ruling issued by the judge in this case.” “It seems like everything is falling apart.”

For the record, I completely understand Klass's position. Polley's murder was horrific, and he feared a reduced sentence would allow Davies to cause harm behind bars – to other prisoners, by increasing his ability to contact the outside world.

Klass points out that Clarence Ray Allen, the last man executed in California, arranged to kill three people — while serving a life sentence.

“The only way to stop the influence of any of these figures is to carry out the sentence, to execute them,” says Klass.

But I also believe that Rosen's move to address what he sees as systemic wrongs is courageous and based on a genuine desire to ensure America's most fundamental and least fulfilled principle of justice: equality under the law. Blacks make up 35% of those on death row, even though they make up only 7% of California's population.

There is no mystery that race plays a role in capital cases, whether it is the color of the defendant or victim, or the inherent biases of prosecutors, juries and judges.

Klass said that he, like Rosen, “does not appreciate or accept racism in any form.”

However, the fact remains that whether Davis (who is white) is re-sentenced or not, he no longer lives on death row, and Newsom did.

Davis has already been transferred to a correctional medical facility in Stockton, where there will be no restrictions when he leaves his cell, and he may have the opportunity to work (with most of his salary going toward compensation) or participate in other programs.

Of course, there is nothing a politician hates more than nuance and complexity. As Rosen and Klass show, the debate over the death penalty is both nuance and complexity.

Back to the 90s

I bet in the coming days we will see these death penalty/death row movements added to the “failed California” narrative.

When Newsom made his feelings on the death penalty known in 2019, criminal justice reform was a safe bet for a Democratic governor.

But in 2024, the political landscape couldn't be more different, despite falling numbers of violent crimes. California is moving back toward a tough-on-crime stance, driven largely by the rise of the organized retail left and the fentanyl crisis that has manifested itself on the streets in places like San Francisco.

Most of you are aware that right-wingers have seized on deeply disturbing scenes of poverty, mental illness, addiction, and despair as evidence that Democratic policies — largely criminal justice reform — are failing, putting public safety at risk.

It's an election-year street fight with presidential implications, for both Biden and Newsom (because we all know the government wants to be the president one day).

You may also have noticed that Newsom moves slowly when he talks about crime.

He sent National Guard troops to San Francisco's Tenderloin District. It supports more CCTV cameras in Auckland. He used the California Highway Patrol as a strike team, from patrolling city streets to running complex retail theft operations.

But the death sentence is proof that despite the tough talk, Newsom is still pushing the boundaries of criminal justice reform.

What should you read?

What to read: Who is Don Hanke, the Los Angeles billionaire who financed Donald Trump's appeal bonds? (Los Angeles Times)
The only one in America: This affluent Bay Area city is the first in California to have its residential component eliminated (SF Chronicle)
Los Angeles Times Special: Prosecutors put the men on death row. This wants to take them off

stay golden,
Anita Chhabria

PS Times photographer Robert Gauthier was with me on death row. Here are some of what he captured.