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A Rare Non-Capital Clemency in Pennsylvania

By standdown

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting article, "In a rarity, Rendell commutes a life sentence," because it examines the changed landscape of clemency.  Though the article focuses on Pennsylvania, clemency in most states is rarely used in ways that the process routinely was in the past.  The report is written by Larry King.On June 2, Gov. Rendell performed what has become one of the rarest acts for a Pennsylvania governor. He commuted the life sentence of a convicted murderer, paving the way for a 54-year-old Bucks County man to spend the rest of his life on parole. Such acts of mercy, once granted by the dozens, have all but ended for Pennsylvania's more than 4,600 lifers, the result of a 1994 commutation gone lethally bad...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on June 17, 2009 (boomark / email).