by Amber Rose Howard On March 13, 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his decision to halt the execution of 737 people sentenced to death in California prisons. This moratorium on capital punishment acknowledges the significant racial, economic, gender and disability disparities in death penalty sentencing and is an important step toward justice. California has the highest prison population in the country and has sentenced the greatest number of people to death row. Now, 737 have been granted life.