Clemency

Now's Really the Time for President Obama to Grant Clemency to Jonathan Pollard

Steven Kurlander | Posted 04.17.2012

Steven Kurlander

This week, a group of Americans and Israelis are visiting South Florida and asking assistance to gain the release of Jonathan Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst and American Jew sentenced to life in 1986 for passing classified intelligence information to Israel.

She was an inmate. I was a suburbanite. We were never supposed to be friends.

Joan Gelman | Posted 04.09.2012

Joan Gelman

She was an inmate. I was a suburbanite. We were never supposed to be friends.

Pardoning Criminals -- Appropriate Mercy or Perverting Justice?

Bennett L. Gershman | Posted 03.19.2012

Bennett L. Gershman

In a day when so many miscarriages of justice have been exposed, particularly by way of indisputable proof of actual innocence, the guidelines for pardons should be far more stringent.

Barbour Says He's 'Very Comfortable' With Bold Decision

AP | EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | Posted 03.14.2012

RIDGELAND, Miss. — Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he's "very comfortable" with his final-days decisions to grant pardons or o...

Will Governor Cuomo Show Compassion This Holiday Season and Grant Clemencies?

Anthony Papa | Posted 02.20.2012

Anthony Papa

To be sentenced under unjust laws to a tremendous amount of time is unconscionable. I know because it happened to me. Now I am asking Governor Cuomo to show compassion.

Arthur Delaney

'Obama's First Bold Act Of Executive Clemency'

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 11.22.2011

WASHINGTON -- President Obama announced Monday that he had pardoned five Americans for past crimes, bringing his pardon total to just 22, a small numb...

Cowardice Killed Troy Davis

Norm Stamper | Posted 11.23.2011

Norm Stamper

There is one rarely heard argument against the death penalty that deserves a place in the debate: Executions are the coward's way out.

Carter: Troy Davis Execution Exposes Flaws In Death Penalty

AP/The Huffington Post | Posted 11.22.2011

ATLANTA -- Former President Jimmy Carter says the execution of death row inmate Troy Davis in Georgia shows that the nation's death penalty system is ...

John Rudolf

'Persistent Doubts' Plague Pending Georgia Execution, Former FBI Chief Says

HuffingtonPost.com | John Rudolf | Posted 12.01.2011

The execution of Troy Davis, a Georgia death row inmate scheduled to die in less than a week, should be halted because of "pervasive, persistent doubt...

Oklahoma Senator Johnson's Fight to End Life Without Parole for Drug Offenders

Anthony Papa | Posted 10.16.2011

Anthony Papa

These are tough times for state governments as well as most Americans. For these reasons, continuing to incarcerate people like Larry Yarbrough is very poor stewardship of limited public resources.

On Good Friday, Quinn Grants 85 Requests For Clemency

Chicago Sun-Times | Posted 06.25.2011

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Quinn granted clemency Friday to 85 people, including those with convictions for arson, armed robbery, shoplifting and drug offens...

An Urgent Movement for Justice

Benjamin Todd Jealous | Posted 05.25.2011

Benjamin Todd Jealous

In response to successful grassroots campaigns, two governors have recently released black Americans who had been railroaded by our nation's criminal justice system. Let's keep this movement growing.

Scott Sisters Freed! Gov. Barbour Wants a Kidney for their Freedom

Anthony Papa | Posted 05.25.2011

Anthony Papa

I wish the Scott Sisters the best in their regaining their freedom and hope they lead fruitful lives. And I pray that Governor Barbour does not use the freedom for organs tradeoff anymore in the future to save the state of Mississippi tax dollars.

The Homecoming: Re-entry and Reintegration of Returnees

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

Arlene M. Roberts

"You can never go home again." At least, that's the way the refrain goes. And many Caribbean immigrants are coming to terms with the realization that...

Ahmadinejad Was Freed Hiker's Captor, Not Saviour

Omid Memarian | Posted 05.25.2011

Omid Memarian

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has portrayed himself as Shourd's benefactor, but it was his intelligence service that held her for 14 months. He was responsible for her detention without trial.

Are We About to Execute Yet Another Possibly Innocent Person?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Judge H. Lee Sarokin

There are those cases with growing frequency that cry out for a fresh look, a relaxation, if necessary, of the rules, where the choice is between executing a possibly innocent man or giving him the opportunity to establish his innocence.

Kevin Keith and the Witness Who Wasn't There

Amnesty International | Posted 05.25.2011

Amnesty International

A man faces execution despite a strong claim of innocence. With a conviction based on deeply flawed witness testimony, and emerging evidence pointing to an alternative suspect, doubts about his guilt continue to grow.

Ronnie Lee Gardner Clemency Decision Expected Monday

AP | JENNIFER DOBNER | Posted 05.25.2011

DRAPER, Utah — A condemned Utah inmate has lost his bid for clemency from a state parole board, making his execution by firing squad on Friday m...

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn Continues To Rehabilitate People (And The Economy) Through His Pardon Power

Tamara N. Holder | Posted 05.25.2011

Tamara N. Holder

147 Illinoisans (and their families) have one more thing to celebrate this holiday weekend: Governor Pat Quinn's granting of their Petitions for Cleme...

Reversal of Fortune: How a Pardon Halts Detention and Deportation

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

Arlene M. Roberts

The fate of a young immigrant man seemed set in stone - mandatory detention since he was a 'criminal alien' followed by deportation to the country of ...

The Time Has Come to Say No to Death

Bianca Jagger | Posted 05.25.2011

Bianca Jagger

The death penalty is a violation of our most inalienable right: The right to life. State execution is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment done in the name of justice.

Bidding a Not-So-Fond Farewell to Willie Horton

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Ph.D. | Posted 05.25.2011

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Ph.D.

High-profile clemency cases like Maurice Clemmons, while tragic, are ridiculously atypical of the cases that usually come to the attention of parole boards and chief executives.

What I Want For Christmas: Mass Clemency

Jacob M. Appel | Posted 05.25.2011

Jacob M. Appel

A mass, collective pardon of nonviolent offenders would reunite hundreds of thousands of families, save billions of dollars in incarceration costs, and might foster a national spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Ex-WorldCom Chief Ebbers Seeks Clemency From Bush

Reuters | Martha Graybow and Randall Mikkelsen | Posted 05.25.2011

Imprisoned former WorldCom Inc chief Bernard Ebbers has joined the list of high-profile corporate defendants petitioning for clemency in the final day...

Number Of Felons Seeking Pardon From Bush Nears Record High

New York Times | CHARLIE SAVAGE | Posted 05.25.2011

Felons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as he nears his final months in office, a time when many other presid...