Newsom's proposed death row commutations would affect Bay Area's most notorious killers

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to commute all death row sentences in California, a move that would affect 548 inmates and clear the state's death row for the first time since California conducted hangings in the late 19th century.

This is a monumental move in the history of capital punishment in America.

RELATED: California Gov. Newsom says he will commute all death sentences in state to life without parole

The proposed commutations would change death sentences to life without the possibility of parole for inmates, including notorious killers Cary Stayner, Richard Farley and Richard Allen Davis.

Davis was convicted of the 1993 killing of Polly Klaas in Petaluma. Marc Klaas, Polly's father, criticized the move.

RELATED: Father of Polly Klaas still grieving 33 years after Petaluma 12-year-old's abduction and murder

"Thirty years ago when Richard Allen Davis was sentenced to death, I was told by the prosecutor, 'See, you can trust the system. The system works for you. If you work within the system.' Today, 30 years later, I'm finding out that that's not the truth," Klaas said.

With less than two months remaining in his final term, Newsom is seeking to commute the sentences of more than 550 people on death row in California.

In a statement, Newsom said: "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."

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen praised the move. Rosen has sought in recent years to change the sentences of Santa Clara County residents on death row.

"The death penalty is broken in California. In addition, the system is riddled with different kinds of bias, including racial bias. And there's a high rate of error. And by error, I mean mistakes that are made during the trial," Rosen said.

Among the cases Rosen sought to change was that of Richard Farley, who killed seven former coworkers in Sunnyvale in 1988. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States at the time.

Last year, family members and friends of the victims celebrated after a Santa Clara County judge denied resentencing. Newsom's action could alter that outcome.

RELATED: Santa Clara Co. court denies death penalty resentencing petition of 1988 mass shooter

Elizabeth Allen, whose husband Buddy died in the 1988 mass shooting, opposed removing Farley's death sentence.

"Fine. Don't execute Richard Farley. Don't execute Eric Chapman. Don't execute them. But don't take the death penalty away, because we earned that. They earned that. The jury wanted it for each of these people, these criminals. The judge voted in favor of the death sentence," Allen said.

Newsom may commute single-felony sentences on his own authority but must receive approval from the California Supreme Court to commute sentences for people with multiple convictions. If that approval does not occur before Newsom leaves office, the commutation requests would lapse.

There are 43 death row prisoners with cases that began in the Bay Area.

Some of them are high profile, including Ramon Salcido.

In 1989, he went on a killing spree in Sonoma County, killing seven people -- including his wife, in-laws and two of his young daughters.

MORE: Mass murder survivor visits family's graves

His 3-year-old daughter, Carmina, managed to survive 36 hours in a garbage dump before she was rescued.

Salcido was sentenced to death in 1990.

Convicted serial killer Joseph Naso was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing four Northern California women with shared matching initials.

MORE: Serial killer Joseph Naso linked to Daly City's oldest cold case murder

Two were murdered in the 1970s and two others were killed in the 1990s.

Naso has since claimed responsibility for as many as 26 total victims to fellow inmates. Cold case investigators have linked Naso to a 1974 murder.

List of clemency recipients: