As detailed at this link, the NYU School of Law's Center on the Administration of Criminal Law has long been engaged with clemency reform, and its latest project is focused on important state stories:
The Center has launched a project studying historical state clemency grants and the role that local prosecutors played in the grant process. As part of the project, Center Fellow Ben Notterman '14 has undertaken a review of historical state clemency grants in a number of states, both to understand the types of crimes for which clemency used to be granted, as well as the role that prosecutors played in recommending or opposing specific grants and advising government decision-makers. We anticipate publishing reports on individual state practices as we complete them.
The first of these reports is titled "The Demise of Clemency for Lifers in Pennsylvania," and it is available at this link. Here is hoe it gets started:
Pennsylvania law automatically imposes life imprisonment for first- and second-degree murder, including felony murder, which requires no intent to kill. It is also one of only five states that categorically excludes lifers from parole consideration; the only way for a lifer to be released is by clemency. For a time, the State’s harsh sentencing policies were tempered by a practice of commuting several dozen life sentences each year. That changed around 1980, when commutations in Pennsylvania fell off dramatically. With few exceptions, clemency in the Keystone State remains in a state of a disuse.
Comments
Post a Comment