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A clemency recipient makes case for the good clemencies

By Douglas A. Berman

Sadly, the specter of ugly pardons past (Marc Rich) and ugly pardons future (possible preemptive torture pardons) is giving the historic Presidential clemency power a bad name these days.  Fortunately, some of the tales of good clemencies present are getting told, as in this USA Today op-ed by Kemba Smith in titled "The wisdom of pardons: For me, clemency was the only path to justice."  Here is how it begins: The nomination of Eric Holder as the next U.S. attorney general has renewed concerns about the end-of-term clemencies granted by President Clinton.  High-profile names such as Marc Rich grabbed headlines at the time, but many other people with no political influence benefited from the president's mercy. I am one of those people. If I had not received a commutation, my first-time conviction for a non-violent offense would have kept me in prison until 2016 (with good behavior) because of the harsh mandatory sentencing laws for crack cocaine...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 18, 2008 (boomark / email).