This holiday season, the Drop LWOP Coalition is calling on Governor Newsom to reunite families across California by granting a HISTORIC number of commutations for people serving Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentences.

Commutation is meant to be the final opportunity for redress of unfair trials, extreme excessive sentences, and inequities that result from racism and other forms of systemic injustice.

For decades, California governors have FAILED to execute this important responsibility of their office in the way it was intended. From 1975 to 1982, then-Governor Jerry Brown granted ONE commutation. However, during his most recent term, Brown commuted the sentences of 283 people in California state prisons, far more than any California governor since at least the 1940s. Fifty-two percent of people commuted by Brown were serving LWOP sentences.

Sadly, this is a RECORD number of commutations for California. Over 5,200 people are still serving the racist, arbitrary, and inhumane death sentence of Life Without Parole and commutations remain one of the only levers of release for people serving LWOP.

Join us over the next month calling on Governor Newsom to use his clemency powers this holiday season.

Click here for shareable #BringThemHome Instagram and Twitter posts

Follow the coalition’s new instagram account @drop_LWOP for updates and visit www.droplwop.com to sign our letter to Governor Newsom urging him to commute the sentences of all people serving Life Without Parole (LWOP) in California’s prisons to parole-eligible sentences.  

We must fight to #BringThemHome for the Holidays!