California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom told inmates at San Quentin State Prison that she could relate to their situation, suggesting that their crimes were “probably an accident,” according to a resurfaced interview published by The Daily Wire.
During a visit to the prison, Siebel Newsom recounted how she accidentally killed her eight-year-old sister at age six when a golf cart she was driving slipped into reverse during a family vacation in Hawaii in 1981. She said she escaped punishment because it was clearly unintentional, and told the inmates she wanted them to know the same thing about their offenses.
“I felt the pressure to be perfect,” she told the Los Angeles Times in a prior interview, describing years of survivor’s guilt that followed the tragedy.
The comments drew immediate criticism from conservatives and crime victims’ advocates. San Quentin houses Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son Connor, and Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and strangled 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993. Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, are among the prison’s historical residents.
Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in California in 2019. At least 650 death row inmates were subsequently integrated into the general population, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The Newsom administration has invested heavily in rebranding San Quentin as a rehabilitation center. The state carved out $78.5 million for the prison’s physical transformation as part of an overhaul the governor has labeled the “California Model,” bringing the total estimated price tag to $14.2 billion. California faces a $3 billion state budget deficit in fiscal year 2026-27.
Violent crime in California remains roughly 10 percent higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to state data. Aggravated assaults are approximately 22 percent above pre-pandemic figures. The state’s overall recidivism rate hovers between 45 and 50 percent.
