Attribution: U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty

Shujaa Graham spent 6 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Sign the petition to urge Gov. Newsom to commute death row so no one else faces this nightmare.

Jack,

Let us tell you about an elder of the death penalty abolition movement who inspires us to keep pushing for change. Shujaa Graham is a lifelong freedom fighter and a death row exoneree. In 1973, young Shujaa was framed for the murder of a prison guard, and he endured six years on California's death row for a crime he didn't commit. 

Upon his hard-won exoneration and release in 1981, Shujaa returned to community organizing. He fights for death penalty abolition to this day. 

Shujaa is one of eight people—all men of color—who have been exonerated and released from California’s death row in the last 50 years. Nearly 200 people across the country have been exonerated within that same timeframe. None of them should have faced execution in the first place.

California Governor Gavin Newsom knows the death penalty system is unjust. He even paused all executions. As his final term comes to an end, he must take it a step further by commuting all death sentences.

If you support ending the risk of sending innocent people like Shujaa to California’s death row, add your name to the petition.

California has the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere with more than 550 people, roughly a quarter of the entire U.S. death row population. Commuting the row in California means that innocent people like Shujaa would no longer face execution. It would pressure other states to do the same and bring us closer to ending capital punishment across the country.

When you add your name to the petition, you stand with Shujaa and all those who have survived death row. You join thousands of people who want a new path for California—and for our nation.

Sign the petition to urge Governor Newsom to commute the row before he leaves office.

In solidarity,

U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty