The Supreme Court today recommended that Governor Newsom commute the life-without-parole sentence of Homer Brown. The recommendation, made at Newsom’s request in May, is a constitutional prerequisite to the clemency, as it is for anyone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.”
The Governor’s request said, “In 1982, Mr. Brown was convicted of first degree murder with a sentence enhancement. He was sentenced to a prison term of life without the possibility of parole. Mr. Brown has prior felony convictions for burglary (1973, 1977), receiving stolen property (1974), and grand theft auto (1975).” It also said, “Mr. Brown has demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation while in prison. He has participated in self-help programming and maintained a positive employment record. On April 20, 2026, the Board of Parole Hearings sent Mr. Brown’s application back to the Governor’s Office with a favorable recommendation for commutation of sentence following an en banc meeting on the matter.”
The commutation won’t lead to Brown’s release, at least not right away. Rather, the Governor told the court he “is contemplating a commutation of sentence that would make Mr. Brown eligible for a parole suitability hearing.” (Related: “Newsom grants clemency, but freedom isn’t certain”.) We haven’t seen the recommendation letter yet, but the court typically quotes the Governor’s contemplation, suggesting the court might not have gone along with the commutation if it meant the prisoner would immediately walk free.
Newsom has a nearly perfect clemency record: he withdrew one request before a ruling, but the court — applying a deferential standard (see here and here) — has approved all 100 of his other requests. (Not counting 13 requests that are still pending.) That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court without explanation block 10 intended clemency grants. The denial of a request implies that a clemency grant would be an abuse of power.
Including Brown, the court has now approved 17 Newsom requests for commutations of LWOP sentences. He has not sought clemency for any death row inmates. (See here.) Notably, two of those 17 requests were approved after the court had denied earlier requests by Governor Brown for the same people. (See here and here.)
The court last month made public a redacted version of Brown’s clemency file after the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office filed a motion to unseal the file. None of the file would have been available absent the motion. (See here and here.)
