After Years Locked up for Stealing Cold Medicine, Reginald Randolph Is Released But if he loses his appeal and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declines to grant him clemency, he will likely be sent back to prison. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
A Homeless Man Has Spent 800 Days At Rikers After Stealing Cold Medicine. Now His Prison Sentence May Be Beginning. Blind in one eye and at risk of losing vision in the other, 58-year-old Reginald Randolph is now on the verge of being sent to state prison to serve out a maximum of four years. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
When Prisons Locked Down, Prisoners Were Denied Release Leaving prison often hinges on completing rehabilitative programming. The pandemic caused many of these required courses to be put on hold. Daniel Moritz-Rabson
The Pandemic Spurred Governors to Grant Clemency, But Advocates Say It Isn’t Enough Despite sentencing reforms, hundreds of thousands of people who have been incarcerated over the last several decades are ineligible for parole. Rachel M. Cohen
North Carolina’s Clemency Process is a ‘Black Box,’ Advocates Say Even with the recent creation of the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, the governor's process for granting clemency remains unclear. Katie Jane Fernelius
California Governor Commutes Sentence of Abuse Survivor, Grants Clemency to Several Others Advocates have been urging Governor Gavin Newsom to make greater use of his clemency power, especially for older prisoners who are more vulnerable to COVID-19. Meg O'Connor, Joshua Vaughn
Virginia Bans Mental Health Evidence in Trials. Lawmakers Could Soon Change This Proposed legislation would allow people accused of crimes to tell juries if they had a mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, or an intellectual or developmental disability at the time of a crime. The bill could have helped individuals like Matthew Rushin. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Man Recommended For Prison Release Dies Waiting For Pennsylvania Governor’s Sign-Off The Board of Pardons unanimously recommended Bruce Norris for a commutation in December, but Tom Wolf had yet to approve it. Joshua Vaughn
I Was A Child In An Adult Prison System. Now I Fight For Those, Like Me, Who Deserve A Brighter Future When They’re Released As a staff member of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, I fight for all children, especially those impacted by systemic racism in our criminal justice system. Catherine Jones
Researchers Estimate Mass Incarceration Contributed To More Than Half A Million Additional Cases Of COVID-19 Over The Summer The report found that spread inside correctional facilities contributed to community spread, particularly in California, Florida and Texas. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, Ethan Corey
Biden Must Fix The Broken Executive Clemency Process. This Is Who He Should Select To Lead That Effort. Rachel Barkow, a respected legal scholar, expert on executive clemency, and former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia would be an ideal choice to start and lead a powerful new program inside the Biden White House. Emily Galvin-Almanza
As Decriminalization Drives Reforms For Marijuana Convictions, Activists See Others Serving Time Left Behind Despite the growing consciousness around the need for reforms, thousands of prisoners who might also deserve clemency or early release are slipping through the cracks. Tana Ganeva
The Roger Stone Commutation Was Bad. Congress Shouldn’t Make Things Worse. Democrats in Congress must still their impulse to legislate restrictions on clemency. Not only would such a law be unconstitutional, but it may deter future presidents from using clemency the way that the framers intended. Mark Osler
‘I can never be more grateful.’ After Nearly 35 Years, Willie Mae Harris Is Released From Prison Harris, now 72 and blind, had been serving a life sentence for the shooting death of her husband, a man she said had abused her for years. Last month, the Arkansas Parole Board agreed to free her. Lauren Gill
Less Than Half a Percent of Pennsylvania Prisoners Have Been Granted Emergency Release During the Pandemic Advocates had hoped Governor Tom Wolf would use his executive reprieve power to release thousands of people from prisons in the face of COVID-19. Joshua Vaughn
Arkansas Grants Parole To Willie Mae Harris Three Decades After She Was Convicted For Killing Her Husband Harris, now 72 and blind, was sentenced to life in prison in 1985. Since she first started petitioning for executive clemency in 1998, the state’s parole board recommended her for release five times. Lauren Gill
Louisiana Women Incarcerated for Defending Themselves Against Abusive Partners Seek Clemency Amid COVID-19 Pandemic The state has recommended the release of 10 women at a coronavirus-ravaged prison—but Governor John Bel Edwards still hasn’t signed the paperwork. Jerry Iannelli
He Found Freedom After More Than Two Decades In Prison. But He Was Released Into A World Changed by COVID-19. Euka Wadlington was denied clemency by the Department of Justice under Obama. But then he mounted a legal challenge to sentencing enhancements used in his drug case; in April, a federal judge granted his release. Now he’s adjusting to freedom—and life in the coronavirus era. Euka Wadlington
The COVID-19 Prison Disaster Is No Longer Hypothetical People are dying in jails and prisons because elected officials hesitated at the worst possible moment. Jay Willis
Amid COVID-19 Panic, Pennsylvania Republicans Warn Governor Against Taking Executive Action to Release Prisoners They tell Tom Wolf that taking any unilateral actions to reduce the state’s prison population would endanger public safety. Joshua Vaughn
The Voices Warning Trump About COVID-19 In Prisons Are Growing Louder. Will He Listen? There are no good reasons for the president to keep vulnerable people behind bars any longer. Jay Willis
A Rarely Used Power Could Free Prisoners in Pennsylvania. But the Governor Is Not Using It. The Office of General Counsel determined that the governor could likely use reprieves to release vulnerable people from prison to control COVID-19’s spread, but the office is advising against it, according to internal emails obtained by The Appeal. Joshua Vaughn
For Many Serving Harsh Sentences, the Governor Becomes a Last Hope Lawmakers are recognizing the harms of mass incarceration. But some governors are reluctant to use their clemency power to address them. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Clemency Gave Him A Second Chance. He Won’t Forget His Friends Who Haven’t Been As Lucky A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims. Kira Lerner
Arizona’s Incarcerated Firefighters Push for Legislation That Recognizes Their Labor By Reducing Their Sentences Unlike other states, Arizona offers minimal early release credits for the prisoners it sends to fight its wildfires. Hannah Critchfield
Man Spared From Execution After Rare Clemency Grant It’s the first time since 2014 that someone on Georgia’s death row has been granted clemency. Braden Goyette
Misplaced Outrage Over Kentucky Governor’s Pardons Harms Criminal Justice Reform Sensational headlines may score short-term partisan points, but long term they contribute to a toxic culture of Willie Hortonism. Adam H. Johnson
A Life Sentence in Arkansas. And a Lifetime of Pain. The state’s parole board has recommended that Willie Mae Harris, convicted of killing her husband in 1985, be freed five times. Now 72 and completely blind, her fate lies with Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Lauren Gill
In Third Debate, Democratic Presidential Candidates Condemn Mass Incarceration Without Naming Its Main Driver Candidates offered reforms for people accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses, but more than half of U.S. prisoners have committed a violent crime. Aaron Morrison
Thousands Are Serving Life Without Parole Sentences in Pennsylvania. A Board Of Pardons Hearing Might Begin To Change That. People seeking commutations from life sentences encounter a steep hurdle in the state’s board of pardons. The board will convene on Sept. 13 to review more than 20 cases. Joshua Vaughn
Louisiana Woman Sentenced to Life for Attempting to Rob Grocery Store With Toy Gun Seeks Mercy Gloria Williams was in her 20s when she was sent to prison for her part in a robbery that turned deadly. After serving nearly five decades, including one decade in solitary confinement, Williams now has a chance at freedom. Victoria Law
Pennsylvania’s Top Cop Says He Supports Criminal Justice Reform. His Record Suggests Otherwise. When it comes to criminal justice, advocates say, Attorney General Josh Shapiro seems intent on maintaining the status quo. Joshua Vaughn
Justice in America Episode 18: What Happened to Clemency? Josie and Clint talk to NYU law professor Rachel Barkow about presidential pardon powers. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
If Cyntoia Brown Can Be Released from Prison, Why Not Trafficking Survivor Alexis Martin? Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam just granted clemency to Brown, who was forced to trade sex for money, but Ohio’s governor declined this week to do the same for Martin. Melissa Gira Grant
Oklahoma Governor Releases 21 Prisoners Shut Out Of Drug Sentencing Reform But more than 1,100 others are still serving sentences that voters decided were too harsh. Kira Lerner
New York Woman Imprisoned For Defending Herself From Abuser Seeks Mercy Jacqueline Smalls was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing a boyfriend whose ‘hands were his weapons.’ She now joins the ranks of criminalized survivors seeking clemency from Governor Cuomo. Victoria Law
Caretaker Faces Deportation Over Dubious ‘Shaken Baby’ Conviction After being released from prison, her only chance is a pardon from the governor. Jessica Pishko
Will Governor Cuomo Give Roy Bolus a Second Chance? Bolus is one of thousands of New Yorkers sentenced to life in prison who are waiting for the governor to keep his clemency promise. Max Rivlin-Nadler
This Red State Governor Is Giving Hope To People Sentenced To Die In Prison But after a spree of commutations, the governor recently put down his clemency pen amid tough-on-crime fear mongering. Kira Lerner
Cuomo the Merciless New York's Democratic governor has granted only a trickle of commutations, fewer than many of his Democratic and Republican predecessors. Victoria Law
Alice Marie Johnson is free. Now it’s time to free thousands more prisoners with unjustly long sentences. Kim Kardashian's successful campaign to free a 63-year-old grandmother serving a life sentence in a drug case is a reminder that we need to go big on clemency. A 52-year-old grandfather named Euka Wadlington, also doing life in a drug case, would be a great place to start. Shaun King
