source:Vanguard News Group

first published: 27 June 2025

Image Credit: Dwight Tracy at www.FreerangeStock.com

With the sun high over the State Capitol, a coalition of California and national civil rights leaders gathered on Thursday, June 26, 2025, to deliver an urgent message to Governor Gavin Newsom: commute the death sentences of all 574 individuals currently on California’s death row.

Framed by banners calling for mercy and banners bearing the names and faces of those once wrongly sentenced to die, the rally brought together faith leaders, civil rights attorneys, disability rights advocates, and families impacted by the criminal legal system. Their demand was clear and unanimous — universal clemency.

California’s death row, the largest in the country and one of the largest in the world, has long been a symbol of what advocates described as systemic injustice, racial bias, and irreparable harm. Two-thirds of those sentenced to die in the state have been there for more than 20 years. Dozens have languished on death row for more than 40 years — many without legal representation for their capital appeals due to chronic underfunding and institutional delay.

“We are here because we know that we are in a moment where our values, our commitment, and our history of civil rights, human rights must shine through more than ever before,” said Pastor Mike McBride, executive director of LIVE FREE USA and lead pastor at The Way Church in Berkeley. “We have no moral authority to take the life of anyone. My faith tradition teaches me that God has no pleasure in the death of anyone, whether they be wicked or just. That is God’s decision alone.”

Calling on Governor Newsom to “meet us at the place of mercy and justice,” McBride reminded the crowd that California prides itself on progressive values and moral leadership. “Why would you want power, particularly the power to show mercy, and you don’t act on that power?” he asked..

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