Some of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley’s most notorious killers are among the roughly 550 death row inmates on a list to be spared by Gov. Gavin Newsom before he leaves office, according to a letter he released on Thursday.
Newsom is set to leave office in January after terming out and can grant clemency for inmates with a single felony conviction. For those with multiple felony convictions, they would need to be approved by four of the seven justices on the California Supreme Court. Clemency reverts a death sentence to life without parole.
“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,” Newsom said in the letter…