Commutations

A group of congress members says Joe Biden should pardon people or commute sentences before his term ends.

Politicians often vilify so-called violent criminals. But the “violent felon” label can mean someone committed anything from a murder to a purse-snatching or verbal threat—and doesn’t line up with what science tells us about violence.

Despite sentencing reforms, hundreds of thousands of people who have been incarcerated over the last several decades are ineligible for parole.

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.

At the urging of advocates, Governor Tom Wolf signed off on all remaining commutations applications on his desk.

The Board of Pardons unanimously recommended Bruce Norris for a commutation in December, but Tom Wolf had yet to approve it.

More than 35 members of Congress signed a letter asking Biden to commute the sentences of the remaining 50 people on federal death row.

In addition to the releases he has already ordered, the New York governor can grant commutations to free more incarcerated people to protect them from the disease. He has issued only three since the pandemic began.

Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has jumpstarted the state’s pardons process, while Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s self-styled progressivism isn’t winning over advocates.

Taewon Wilson and Candace Chavez-Wilson are part of a growing movement to end life without possibility of parole and other harsh sentences.

The two men have been awaiting Tom Wolf’s signature for more than six months.

The Courier Journal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on Governor Matt Bevin’s commutations sensationalizes crime at the expense of future clemency efforts.

Freddy Butler, Oliver Macklin, and Charles Goldblum are among the 17 people who received recommendations for commutations of life sentences in 2019, but Governor Tom Wolf has yet to sign off on their releases.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he’s releasing thousands of prisoners. But that doesn’t necessarily include some of the state’s sickest patients.

Incarcerated people like John Brookins, who is serving life without the possibility of parole, will have to wait until June or later for a chance at clemency.

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.

State governors and the president have the authority to grant commutations and reprieves to people in prison across the country as COVID-19 spreads.

Advocates have called on Governor Tom Wolf and state Department of Corrections officials to release elderly and infirm people from state prisons. But the law is limiting how quickly they can move.

Lawmakers are recognizing the harms of mass incarceration. But some governors are reluctant to use their clemency power to address them.

A year after Alfonzo Riley returned from prison, he’s helping to vet innocence claims.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. It was no secret that President Trump was planning to run an ad during the Super Bowl this year; the question was only what the particular message […]

It’s the first time since 2014 that someone on Georgia’s death row has been granted clemency.

Sensational headlines may score short-term partisan points, but long term they contribute to a toxic culture of Willie Hortonism.

Efforts are underway to address life without parole sentences and free people who have been in prison for decades.

Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. At least 462 people were released early from Oklahoma prisons yesterday in the largest mass commutation in U.S. history. A total of 527 people had their sentences […]

This month, nine people received commutations from life sentences, and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is calling for changes to the commutations process to give more people second chances.

Josie and Clint talk to NYU law professor Rachel Barkow about presidential pardon powers.

The departing governor has chosen to pardon immigrants whose past criminal offenses put them in danger of deportation.