California Governor Gavin Newsom’s unprecedented decision to commute the sentences of all 548 inmates on the state’s death row raises the question: What is justice?

“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 stated in an open letter to Californians. “I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.”

Wow, talk about turning the state’s legal and justice system on its head. How, exactly, does holding people to account for brutally murdering innocent victims by sentencing them to death undermine “the foundations of our legal system”?

Indeed, would not the opposite be the case? Holding people accountable for their crimes, especially murder, by requiring their lives in return for taking an innocent life is the very definition of equal justice. An eye for an eye is not barbaric or cruel and unusual; rather, it holds the guilty to account while also protecting against government overreach.

To put it pointedly, the punishment should fit the crime. This principle is not controversial; it forms the foundation of our justice system. Yet Newsom has attacked that very system, ironically calling it “diminishing” to Californians.

You know what diminishes Californians? A government that refuses to see their life as worthy of protecting. It’s Newsom who is diminishing the lives of those innocent victims by valuing murderers’ lives over the lives of their victims.

Newsom twists the justice system and, at the same time, derides it as imperfect. Well, of course it is, but that doesn’t mean you should make it even more imperfect.

Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter was kidnapped and murdered by one of these inmates on death row, observed, “We’re talking about serial killers, spree killers, cop killers, baby killers. We’re talking about absolutely the worst people in our society, without a doubt. And he’s putting his energy into commuting these characters?” Klaas added, “It regurgitates the horrible emotions. It just leaves me feeling raw and angry.”

He should be angry because Newsom has just commuted justice for the grieving father and then claimed what he did was “justice.”

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer blasted Newsom action as “mercy for the wolves while inflicting the ultimate act of cruelty on the sheep.” He added, “Governor Newsom’s decision to unilaterally eradicate the decisions of hundreds of juries comes as no surprise, as this is just another step in a calculated march to empty California’s prisons and send a message that no one should be held responsible for their crimes.”

When Newsom first came into office, he issued a moratorium on executions — a moratorium that Democrat governor-elect Xavier Becerra promised to keep in place. Furthermore, as Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman noted, while Newsom may have the authority to commute death sentences, he does not have the authority to change state law. “Until the law is changed,” Hochman said, “my office will continue to evaluate every death penalty-eligible case with the rigor, care and restraint these decisions demand.”

This raises the question: Why would Newsom make this clearly controversial decision given that his successor will continue the death penalty moratorium?

Apparently, Newsom, who clearly has his eyes on the White House in 2028, believes this action will benefit his campaign. That’s a pretty big risk, given that many Americans support the death penalty for capital crimes.

Yet, according to Newsom, this decision was the “most difficult” in his career, explaining, “I deeply respect the views of those who will strongly disagree with my decision, including some families of victims who have suffered the worst possible loss. I hold this painful truth along with the belief that this is a righteous action.”

How is this “righteous”? Newsom fails to explain this exact point; instead, he just asserts it. Furthermore, he portrays the mass commutations, which bypassed the ability to review individual cases, as a noble act.

“I carefully considered different categories of capital crimes and offender characteristics. I have learned, however, from speaking with the victims harmed by these crimes, that each experiences their loss as the worst of the worst,” he stated. “Attempting to distinguish among crimes and offenders for clemency would inadvertently create two classes of murder victims — those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and then the rest.”

So, he just decided to inflict injustice equally upon all the families of the innocent victims. How thoughtful and benevolent of him. Not to mention throwing the state’s entire justice system under the bus in every single case.

Newsom has undermined a state’s justice system already plagued by leftist district attorneys and prosecutors so imbibed in the poison of DEI that they judge guilt and innocence based upon identity, demographics, and statistics rather than the individual and their actions.

Finally, the great irony: Newsom hems and haws about this “most difficult” decision but has had no reservations about expanding abortion access in the state. He has proudly signed numerous abortion bills into law during his time in office, including two this year alone.

In Newsom’s twisted worldview, “justice” is supporting the killing of the innocent while protecting murderers from having to pay the fully deserved price for their crimes. And this man wants to be president.