On November 5, 2026, Governor Newsom made a historic decision to commute the death sentences of more than 500 people to life in prison without parole. We commend his decision. Over 200 innocent people have been exonerated from death row, including eight Black men in California. We know the justice system is fallible. We know the death penalty’s shameful, racist legacy and its proven failure to deter capital crimes; that’s why advocates fought for years to abolish it and why Angelenos repeatedly voted to reject it. So why is D.A. Hochman doubling down on pursuing the death penalty, claiming he is simply enforcing the law?
Don’t be fooled. D.A. Hochman knows district attorneys have enormous discretion to set priorities and parameters and have no obligation to pursue the death penalty. In fact, D.A. Hochman has chosen not to prioritize enforcement of many laws in his office, including the Racial Justice Act, the Prison Rape Elimination Act, or any laws that hold law enforcement and ICE agents accountable for abusing and killing Californians.
We’ve said it before: D.A. Hochman’s return to the death penalty is one of many ways he is dragging Los Angeles back to cruel, ineffective, and error-prone policies of the past. If D.A. Hochman were serious about public safety, he’d pursue approaches actually proven to reduce crime, like mental health diversion and community-based drug addiction services, rather than recycle failed policies to look “tough” on crime.