加文·纽森可以减刑加州所有死刑囚犯的刑期，仍有可能成为总统。加州州长加文·纽森有机会通过减刑本州所有死刑犯的刑期来创造历史。他可以并且应该这样做，以拯救加州死刑囚犯中563名囚犯的生命。
Gavin Newsom can commute all California death sentences and still become president California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a chance to make history by commuting all death sentences in his state. He can and should do so by sparing the lives of the 563 California prisoners on death row.
这样做将成为美国历史上单一规模最大、意义最重大的反死刑行为。此前从未有政治领袖拥有如此多机会去拯救等待处决的人们的生命。
Such an act would be the single most significant anti-death penalty act in all of American history. Never before has a political leader had the chance to save as many lives of people awaiting execution.
在全国注意力聚焦于死刑残酷性的时刻，对全国死刑囚犯人数最多的州进行大规模减刑将如同一道闪电。这将为废除死刑的倡导者提供强劲动力，也为其他死刑州的州长清空死刑犯人犯提供政治掩护。
Coming at a moment when the nation’s attention is fixed on the cruelty of capital punishment, a mass commutation of the nation’s largest death row population would be a lightning bolt. It would be wind in the sails of abolitionists and provide political cover for governors in other death penalty states to empty their death rows.
纽森还能巩固他作为反死刑领军人物的已有重要地位，而不会损害他的政治前景——如果他决定参加总统竞选的话。
And Newsom can solidify his already substantial standing as a leading voice against capital punishment without damaging his political prospects should he decide to run for president.
为了理解在加州进行大规模减刑的规模和意义，请考虑以下情况。在过去二十年里，有11个州废除了死刑：科罗拉多州、康涅狄格州、特拉华州、伊利诺伊州、马里兰州、新罕布什尔州、新泽西州、新墨西哥州、纽约州、弗吉尼亚州和华盛顿州。在这些州合并后，废除死刑时的死刑囚犯总人数为69人。
To get a sense of the magnitude and significance of a mass commutation in California, consider the following. Over the last two decades, 11 states have abolished the death penalty: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Virginia and Washington. In all of those states combined, the total death row population at the time of abolition was 69.
或者考虑这一点：截至目前，美国历史上针对被判死刑者的最大规模特赦是由最高法院1972年在弗尔曼诉佐治亚州案中的裁决引发的，该裁决废除了因宪法有缺陷的法律而被判死刑的629人的死刑。
Or consider that to this point in American history, the largest mass clemency for people sentenced to death occurred as a result of the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which invalidated the death sentences of 629 people who had been sentenced under constitutionally defective laws.
2003年，伊利诺伊州州长乔治·瑞安（共和党）通过对167人予以特赦，清空了本州的死刑犯人犯。就在卸任前，拜登总统将37人的死刑减刑为终身监禁且不得假释。
In 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan (R) emptied his state’s death row by granting clemency to 167 people. And just before leaving office, President Biden commuted 37 death sentences to life in prison without parole.
虽然加利福尼亚州目前对死刑实施暂停，且已有20年未执行死刑，但如果纽瑟姆在加利福尼亚州发布普遍赦免，这一举动将使全国死囚人数减少四分之一。
While California currently has a moratorium on executions and has not executed a prisoner in 20 years, if Newsom issues a universal clemency in California, that single gesture would reduce the number of people on death row in the entire country by one-fourth.
在加利福尼亚州，实施此类赦免的途径十分复杂。正如《纽约时报》所解释的：“根据加利福尼亚州法律，州长可以单方面对只有一项定罪的囚犯发布赦免，但对有多项重罪定罪的囚犯的赦免请求必须由州最高法院批准。”然而，无论该法院可能做出何种决定，纽瑟姆仍可能比任何其他州长或总统都更多地挽救生命。
In the Golden State, the path for such a clemency is complicated. As The New York Times explains, “Under California law, a governor can unilaterally grant clemency to a prisoner with a single conviction, but the State Supreme Court must approve a clemency request for inmates with multiple felony convictions.”However, whatever that court might do, Newsom could still spare the lives of more people than any other governor or president ever has.
纽瑟姆一直坚持且公开反对死刑。他说：“故意杀害他人是错误的……而我们的死刑制度，无论从哪方面衡量，都是失败的。”但新闻报道表明，纽瑟姆正在权衡如果他决定参加总统竞选，普遍赦免可能对其竞选产生的影响。证据表明，这不会对他政治前景造成显著损害。
The governor has been a persistent and outspoken critic of capital punishment. Newsom says that “The intentional killing of another person is wrong and … our death penalty system has been, by all measures, a failure.”But news reports suggest that Newsom is weighing the impact a universal clemency might have on his campaign if he decides to run for president. The evidence suggests it would not significantly damage his political prospects.
在2020年总统提名竞选期间，几乎所有争取民主党总统提名的候选人都反对死刑，而在当年秋季大选前夕，乔·拜登公开表达了对死刑的反对。
During the 2020 presidential nominating campaign, almost every candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination opposed the death penalty, and in the run-up to the election that fall, Joe Biden was open about his opposition to capital punishment.
如今，虽然美国公众中仅有微弱多数支持死刑，但大多数美国人认识到死刑制度存在严重缺陷。
Today, while a slim majority of the American public supports the death penalty, most Americans recognize the serious flaws in the death penalty system.
而且，如果2028年大选的结果取决于所谓摇摆州的表现，那么许多摇摆州对于持有反对死刑记录的候选人来说，似乎是肥沃的土壤。在这七个摇摆州中，有两个州（密歇根州和威斯康星州）早在很久以前就废除了死刑。
And if the result of the 2028 campaign were to depend on the results in so-called swing states, many of them would seem to be fertile ground for a candidate with a record of opposition to the death penalty. Two of those seven states (Michigan and Wisconsin) abolished capital punishment a long time ago.
与加利福尼亚州一样，宾夕法尼亚州目前也暂停执行死刑，自1999年以来尚未执行过任何死刑。该州州长乔什·沙皮罗（民主党）反对死刑，并呼吁立法机构予以废除。他仍然是美国最受欢迎的州长之一。
Like California, Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions currently in place and hasn’t executed anyone since 1999. Its governor, Josh Shapiro (D), opposes the death penalty and has called on the legislature to abolish it. He remains one of the most popular governors in the country.
北卡罗来纳州的死刑执行因待决的司法挑战而暂停，过去二十年来也未曾执行过任何死刑。尽管前州长、现任美国参议员候选人罗伊·库珀（民主党）并非废除死刑的倡导者，但他仍为15人减去了死刑。
The death penalty in North Carolina is on hold because of pending court challenges and has not executed anyone in two decades. Though he is not an abolitionist, former governor and current candidate for the U.S. Senate, Roy Cooper (D), commuted the death sentences of 15 people.
与北卡罗来纳州类似，内华达州法律上保留死刑，但自2006年以来也未曾执行过任何死刑。
Like North Carolina, Nevada has the death penalty on the books but hasn’t executed anyone since 2006.
这样一来，摇摆州中仅剩下亚利桑那州和佐治亚州，这两个州仍保留死刑，且近期仍有死刑执行。
That leaves two of the swing states, Arizona and Georgia, where the death penalty is still legal and where executions have been carried out recently.
但在佐治亚州，美国参议员拉斐尔·沃诺克（民主党）一直是公开反对死刑的倡导者，称其为“白人至上主义的最终保险机制”。尽管如此，他仍然成功赢得了国会席位。
But in Georgia, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) has been an outspoken opponent of capital punishment, calling it “The final failsafe of white supremacy.”He still managed to win his seat in Congress.
最后，在亚利桑那州，近年来公众对死刑的支持率有所下降，该州新判处的死刑数量也随之减少。
Finally, in Arizona, public support for the death penalty has declined in recent years, as have the number of new death sentences being imposed in the state.
所有这些都表明，纽森在考虑是否应遵从内心良知、运用其赦免权对美国的死刑制度予以沉重打击时，仍有回旋余地。如果他这样做，就将实现已故教皇方济各在2024年纽森拜访他时所表达的希望。
All of this suggests that Newsom has room to maneuver as he considers whether to follow his conscience and use his clemency power to deliver a devastating blow to America’s death penalty system. Should he do so, he will vindicate the hopes that the late Pope Francis expressed when Newsom visited him in 2024.
正如《纽约时报》所指出的，当教皇见到纽森时，“竖起了大拇指”，并称这位州长为他的“‘死刑支持者’”。奥斯汀·萨拉特是安默斯特学院的威廉·尼尔森·克伦威尔法学与政治学教授。
As The New York Times notes, when he saw Newsom, the Pope “flashed a thumbs up” and dubbed the governor his “’death penalty man.’”Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College.