In Mississippi, Identities of Pardon Applicants Must Be Public
by Dafna Linzer, ProPublica.Org
The legality of last-minute clemency decisions by outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour appears to hinge on whether the recipients gave sufficient public notice of their intent to seek release. The state's attorney-general, Jim Hood, has said there was not proper notice. A state judge, responding to the attorney general's request,temporarily blocked the release of 21 prisoners, ordered by Barbour.
In Mississippi, public notice is a constitutional requirement for acts of clemency, which include pardons, or acts of forgiveness after the completion of a sentence, and commutations, or shortened prison sentences. Under Mississippi law, the notification onus appears to be on the applicant and allows time for victims to comment on a potential pardon or early prison release before it takes effect.
At ProPublica, we recently reported on bias and transparency in presidential pardons, which require no such public notice. The Justice Department keeps the identity of an applicant secret until the president has granted or denied the pardon. But sometimes victims are privately given an opportunity to weigh in. The Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, which processes pardon claims and makes recommendations to the White House, can seek comments from victims.
At the federal level, most successful pardon and commutation applicants go through a rigorous application and interview process conducted by the pardon office. Although it is rare for a pardon to be granted for someone who has not applied through the pardon office, presidents can pardon anyone charged with or convicted of a federal crime at any time, with or without paperwork.
Marc Rich, for example, did not file an application through the Office of the Pardon Attorney when he sought a pardon in late 2000 from then-President Bill Clinton. Clinton granted the pardon to Rich, a fugitive financier, on his last day in office in January 2001. The Rich pardon was controversial because he had not applied through the pardon office and because his ex-wife was a major donor to Democratic causes and the Clinton presidential library.
Clinton granted nearly 400 pardons during his two-year presidency. George W. Bush granted 189. So far, President Barack Obama has pardoned 22 people.
ProPublica's examination of pardon decisions from 2001-08 found that white applicants were nearly four times as likely to receive pardons than minorities. Other factors, such as financial stability, employment, marital status and the support of a member of Congress, also increased the likelihood of receiving a pardon.
Presidents have also granted few commutations in recent years. Bush granted 11, including one to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who had served as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in a leak case. Obama has commuted the sentence of one person.
Not all governors have the power to pardon. In some states, the power is shared by the legislature and the executive. Some states have set up pardon boards to review applications and either act independently or advise governors of their recommendations.
Pardons are more common in some states than at the federal level. During the period in which Bush pardoned fewer than 200 ex-felons, the governor of Pennsylvania pardoned more than 1,000 people.
Pages: 1 · 2
More Articles
- Jo Freeman Reviews: Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union By Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Amanda Tyler
- Supreme Court Surprises The Public in LGBTQ Ruling: What is Sex Discrimination?
- Jo Freeman's Book Review of The Women’s Suffrage Movement by Sally Roesch Wagner
- 30 States Have Adopted Sentencing and Corrections Reforms: Incarceration and Crime Rates Keep Falling
- Effects of Missouri’s Repeal of Its Handgun Purchaser Licensing Law on Homicides: The Repeal Coincided with a Sharp Increase in the Percentage of Crime Guns Recovered by Missouri Police From 56.4% in 2006 to 71.8% in 2012
- An Expert Assesses Personal Security in An On-edge America
- Reproductive Rights Back Before the Court: Should Health Plans Offer Contraceptive Coverage?
- Are Women Mistreated by the Criminal Justice System?
- Heirs' Property Challenges Families, States
- Congressional Bills Introduced and An Update to the Secure Our Smartphones Initiative