The Marshall Project earlier this week had this notable account of the outgoing California Gov's clemency history under the headline "The Jerry Brown Way of Pardoning." Here is an excerpt from this piece:
Unlike President Donald Trump, who has focused attention on cases brought to him by fellow celebrities and on political allies, Brown’s clemency decisions focus on people facing what the governor seems to view as systemic injustices. They are often timed to coincide with Catholic holidays, a reflection of his faith.
“It’s a recognition that people can, and do, change — even after committing terrible crimes,” Evan Westrup, a spokesman for Brown, said in a statement. “It’s also a recognition of the radical and unprecedented sentencing increases and prison building boom of the 80s and beyond as well as the diminished role of parole as a vital ingredient in California’s system of sentencing and rehabilitative process.”
Among the people who have received clemency recently: Southeast Asian immigrants who came to the United States as children and who face deportation unless granted a pardon; non-citizen military veterans who were deported for crimes committed after their service; and prisoners serving life without parole, who were given hope of release....
During his first two terms in office, from 1975-83, Brown oversaw a dramatic shift in sentencing policy that led to a surge in the state’s prison population and coincided with a number of tough-on-crime bills. In those years, he handed down only one commutation and about 400 pardons.... By contrast, since returning to the governor’s office in 2011, Brown has issued 82 commutations and more than 1,100 pardons, far more than any California governor since at least the early 1940s.
The previous governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, issued only 10 commutations and 15 pardons during his two terms. His predecessor, Gray Davis, issued none.
A few days after this piece was published, Gov Brown issued another batch of clemencies as reported in this AP article headlined "California governor pardons former state lawmaker, refugees." Here is how this piece starts:
A former state senator convicted of lying about his residence and three refugees from Vietnam who could face deportation are among 38 people pardoned Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Brown's pardons also include a man who just lost his Paradise home in a wildfire.
The Democratic governor also commuted the sentences of 70 people still serving time, including Walter "Earlonne" Woods, who co-hosts a podcast called "Ear Hustle" from inside San Quinton state prison.
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