Video taking off 28x its usual first day

Riverside DA weighs court challenge to Newsom's death-row commutations

CBS LA's report also hears from victims' families who support replacing death sentences with life imprisonment and want savings directed toward survivor care.

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CBS LA Story of November 8, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 76,293 views a day, 28 times a normal first day on this channel (2,738).

Riverside County DA speaks out against Gov. Newsom's commutation of death penalty inmates

Prosecutors are considering going to court, while some victims' families are asking California to put the money spent on death penalty cases toward helping survivors. Laurie Perez's CBS LA report captures both responses to Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to commute death-row sentences to life imprisonment.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin says his office is examining options for a legal challenge. Perez also reports opposition from prosecutors in Los Angeles and Orange counties. These are potential court proceedings, not a challenge the report says has already been filed.

But the families Perez interviews do not speak with one voice. Bethany Webb, who lost family members in the 2011 Seal Beach shooting, supports the commutations. She calls the decision "The most moral thing I've seen done by a politician maybe in my lifetime."

Perez describes an open letter from victims' relatives urging that savings from death penalty cases go toward trauma recovery and survivor support. Steve Herr, whose son was murdered, offers a sharply different response, criticizing Newsom's decision and questioning what could follow. The change described in the report is to life imprisonment, not release.

The report drew roughly 75,000 views in less than a day, far beyond CBS LA's usual audience for a regular upload.

Perez closes with a legal constraint on the governor's plan: for inmates with multiple felony convictions, commutation requires a recommendation from the California Supreme Court.

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