JANUARY 16, 2026 —
On Jan. 17, 2006, California carried out what would turn out to be the last execution in the Golden State in the next two decades. Clarence Ray Allen was put to death at San Quentin State Prison, having been convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for a crime committed in 1980.
At the time of his crimes, the murder rate in California was at or near an all-time high. There were approximately 14.5 homicides per 100,000 people in the state.
Like many places, California had been in the grip of a suffocating and punitive tough-on-crime politics.
Things are different today. California has learned to live without executions, and it is better off because of it.
Its governor, Gavin Newsom, made his state’s execution pause official when he declared a formal moratorium in 2019. He has led the way in asking citizens of his state to face the death penalty’s manifold injustices….