A GROUP OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS, human rights activists and local politicians rallied Thursday on the steps outside San Francisco City Hall to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom commute all death sentences in the state. 

“Our death penalty system is cruel, racist, unjust, and an obscene waste of public resources,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju in a speech. “It is shameful that in 2025, our state continues to sentence people to death.”

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Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.