Pardons and Commutations
by: Abassos • January 31, 2011 • no comments
Where people feel they were wrongly convicted or unfairly punished and have been exceptionally rehabilitated, an application may be made to the Governor to forgive the crime (a pardon) or reduce the punishment (a reprieve). [Here is the application] for pardons and reprieves from the Governor. The link is also under the resource tab at the top of this page.
Applications for clemency are rarely granted. Generally, a Governor will reserve the remedy for extraordinary situations. However, there's nothing to lose - so perhaps there should be a lot more requests for clemency than there currently are.
Just remember that it's unlikely the application will get even a casual look from anyone on the Governor's staff until the case is over and all other potential avenues exhausted. That means that if the defendant is still on probation or parole then it's probably too early for an application. If the defendant could still appeal or file for PCR or Habeas then it's too early. If the defendant could file for expungement, then it's definitely too early.
Situations that I think cry out for pardons are ones where a quirk of expungement law prevents expungement and the person can demonstrate both upstanding citizenship and the barriers to success created by the conviction.
For example, while the sentencing guidelines classify all drugs at the same crime seriousness level of 1 for simple possession, the criminal statutes classify simple possession of hallucinogens as a more serious crime than other drugs. So possession of methamphetamine or cocaine is a C felony, expungeable after 3 years if the person otherwise qualifies. Possession of ecstasy is a B felony that is never expungeable. The college student convicted of possessing ecstasy will be a convicted felon for the rest of her life while people convicted of possessing meth will have long ago moved on. Fast forward 10 years and if that college student is a good person with a demonstrated work history and great potential, impeded only by her status as a convicted felon, it seems like an excellent case for expungement.
Another example is a driving conviction. Traffic cases are excluded from expungement for practical, not punitive, rehabilitative or community safety, reasons. We want to preserve driving records and we don't want to flood the courts with expungement petitions on traffic violations. Where the person has had a drivers license for years after the incident and the conviction is impeding success, that seems like another non-controversial and potentially compelling application for clemency.
