Richard Allen Davis would serve life without parole under the governor’s statewide clemency decision, though his case still requires California Supreme Court approval.
SACRAMENTO, CA — Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly was kidnapped and killed in 1993, sharply criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to commute California’s death sentences to life in prison without parole, a move that includes her convicted killer, Richard Allen Davis.
Klaas said the announcement reopened painful memories from a case that has followed his family for more than three decades. Davis was sentenced to death in 1996 for kidnapping and killing Polly after taking her from her Petaluma home during a sleepover. Klaas told CNN that learning of Newsom’s decision felt like “a shiv in my back.” He said the action undermined his confidence in a criminal justice process that had produced a death sentence through a jury verdict and court judgment.
Newsom announced Nov. 5 that he had decided to use his clemency authority to change every California death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. His office said the decision covers 548 people sentenced to death. The action does not release prisoners, make them eligible for parole, erase their convictions or cancel restitution orders. California has not carried out an execution since Jan. 17, 2006, and Newsom imposed a formal moratorium on executions after taking office in 2019.
Davis’ sentence cannot be changed immediately. State records list him among prisoners who have been convicted of a felony more than once. Under the California Constitution, the state Supreme Court must approve clemency for such prisoners before the commutation can take effect. Newsom’s office said 382 of the 548 cases fall into that category. The governor has submitted those cases to the court for review, and his clemency website says none of the commutations will take effect until the required legal steps are completed.
Klaas said he had already accepted that California was unlikely to execute Davis after years of appeals and the state’s long pause on executions. What mattered to him, he said, was that the death sentence remained in place. Before Newsom announced the decision, Klaas told CalMatters that he had remained secure in the belief that Davis and others sentenced to death would stay under those sentences for the rest of their lives. After the announcement, he said the governor’s action showed that decisions reached by juries and judges could later be changed by one officeholder.
“Hundreds and hundreds of juries agonized over whether or not the individual whose trial they just sat for should be executed,” Klaas told CNN. He also pointed to California voters’ rejection of ballot measures in 2012 and 2016 that would have ended the death penalty. Klaas argued that a change affecting every death sentence should not rest solely with the governor. His criticism echoes objections from prosecutors and other victims’ relatives who say the commutations disregard sentences imposed after lengthy trials and appeals.
Newsom acknowledged that the decision would cause pain for some victims and their families. In an open letter to Californians, he wrote that he had concluded “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values” and said he could not remain true to his principles while overseeing executions. He described the choice as the result of nearly three decades of opposing capital punishment as an elected official and said the state should remember victims separately from the fate of the people convicted of killing them.
Polly Klaas’ relatives are not united on the issue. Jess Nichol, Polly’s sister, said she once believed Davis deserved execution but later concluded that carrying it out would not aid her recovery or improve public safety. She said the death penalty can keep survivors waiting for an execution that does not erase their grief. Annie Nichol, another of Polly’s sisters, also supports ending the death penalty. The sisters met with Newsom before his announcement and discussed their views on capital punishment and the effect Polly’s death had on their family.
The 1993 killing of Polly Klaas became one of California’s most widely known criminal cases and helped fuel support for tougher sentencing laws during the 1990s. Davis kidnapped Polly from her home in Petaluma and later killed her. He was convicted in 1996, and a judge imposed the death sentence that September. Newsom’s official list of intended clemency recipients identifies Davis and records his death judgment as Sept. 26, 1996, following a trial in Santa Clara County.
Newsom’s decision represents a major shift in the legal status of California’s condemned population but does not alter the underlying convictions. His office says every affected prisoner will remain incarcerated for life without the possibility of parole if the commutations become effective. The governor’s fact sheet also says the prisoners will not become eligible under recently issued state regulations governing other commutation and resentencing requests.
For Davis and hundreds of other prisoners with multiple felony convictions, the next step rests with the California Supreme Court. Until that review is completed, Davis’ death sentence remains subject to the constitutional clemency process rather than a completed commutation. Klaas, meanwhile, continues to oppose the change, while other members of Polly’s family have publicly supported Newsom’s decision to end death sentences in the state.
Author note: Last updated November 8, 2026.