The U.S. Constitution provides the President with the power to pardon people convicted of federal crimes. Different types of pardons exist, however. Through acts of executive clemency, the pardon can forgive or excuse a criminal conviction, amnesty can absolve an individual or a class of individuals from criminal prosecution, a reprieve can postpone the imposition of sanctions, and a sentence commutation can lower the severity of a criminal sentence.

President Obama should reform the pardon process because the federal prison system has become too large. Federal prisons confine more than 200,000 prisoners, and as the pardon process exists today, only the well connected have a chance of making an effective case for the President to consider whether an individual merits consideration for clemency.

When the founders of our country imbued the office of the President with the power to pardon, they did not envision criminal sentences that would confine hundreds of thousands. Further, long-term imprisonment should require some type of review. The interest of justice should warrant an inquiry as to whether multiple decades in prison meet the need of our evolving society. Without a federal parole board in place, the President ought to have a more effective system to evaluate whether continued incarceration is appropriate for all federal prisoners.

 Although an act of executive clemency is really an act of grace, or compassion, if offenders had a mechanism through which they could work toward earning meaningful consideration for clemency, many more prisoners would strive to build records that might advance their candidacy. I would like to see a system in place that would reward those who built long records of working to reconcile with society. President Obama could instruct those within the pardon office to evaluate such offenders on a regular basis, and political connections should not have as much influence on decision as records of merit.

With 200,000 people in federal prison, it seems inconceivable to me that the pardon attorney should consider so few for the grace of clemency. More clemency requests were granted when our nation’s prison system confined fewer than 40,000 prisoners. That evidence suggests the President and the Department of Justice ought to reform the pardon process.

The post Reform the Pardon Process appeared first on Prison News Blog.

In late March, Michael submitted an updated petition for commutation of sentence to the US Pardon Attorney. His petition has been on file since 2003, but this is the first action he is aware of since filing it six years ago.

Now we know that someone in the US Pardon Attorney’s office is looking at Michael’s petition. As Michael’s wife, it’s hard not to feel hopeful at this development. I want him to come home. For more than 21 years, Michael has consistently produced extraordinary achievements from prison.  He has earned his freedom in every way it is possible to measure such an accomplishment.  

President Obama could find no better candidate who is deserving of a Presidential commutation. Michael lives as an extraordinary example of leadership and hope and accomplishment despite the adversity and obstacles erected by the prison system. Michael deserves to have his petition granted. 

With this newest development, if you support Michael’s efforts to earn his freedom, please contact the US Pardon Attorney’s office by letter or by email and voice your support for Michael’s immediate release. Letters advocating a Presidential commutation for Michael should be directed to the President of the United States and mailed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Letters must reference Michael’s full name (Michael G. Santos) and registration number (16377-004). The following example can be used as a guide for beginning a letter.

Date:

Re: Inmate Michael G. Santos #16377-004

Petition for Commutation of Sentence

Dear President Obama:

(body of letter follows)

Phone: (202) 616-6070

E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Thank you for your support!

The post Action on Michael’s Petition for Commutation appeared first on Prison News Blog.

According to a report published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, almost half of all the people who are sent to prison lack a high school diploma. The statistics seem to show that while the poor and uneducated are saddled with lengthy prison terms for criminal convictions, our system of justice gives more consideration to the rich and well connected.

My roommate, David, is a poor young man from a Hispanic family. He did not enjoy the life of power and privilege that criminals like Madoff and Libby exploited. David did not graduate high school and he made the bad decision of selling drugs to earn an income. He did not use weapons or violence, and he sold drugs to consenting adults. Yet his lengthy sentence suggests that our system of justice held David, a poor Hispanic man, to a higher standard than it holds the rich. That is an injustice, in my eyes.

Maria Perez is a criminal justice student who asked why I worked to help prisoners like David. As a long-term prisoner, I feel as if I have a responsibility and a duty to help all of my fellow prisoners. This is my calling, my ministry, the way I serve society and serve God. I strive to live as an example inside prison boundaries, and to inspire my fellow prisoners to work toward achieving their highest potential. Also, by writing about the prison system and the people it holds, I hope to apprise citizens of what goes on inside prisons and to influence prison reforms that will improve this wretched system.

The post Poor Prisoners Differ From Rich appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Congress has shown that prisons cost taxpayers nearly $60 billion each year to operate. The Pew Report shows that 1 in every 31 people in America is under the correctional system’s supervision. Academics have shown that prisoners who worked to educate themselves were the least likely to recidivate. Yet more expenditures have gone to erecting prison boundaries than have gone to preparing offenders for law abiding lives upon release.

One improvement President Obama could make would be to order the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to abide by the recommendations of Congress as published in The Second Chance Act. That Act suggested that administrators implement programs to help prisoners nurture family ties. Family ties represent the surest way to prepare offenders for success upon release. The Director should immediately lift restrictions that block prisoners from being able to nurture ties with family through the telephone, visits, and e-mail.

President Obama should also use the power of his office to influence legislation that would encourage prisoners to work toward earning freedom through merit. Congress ought to provide an objective path for offenders to follow that would allow them to reconcile with society. Those who built records that demonstrated they could function in society as law-abiding citizens, and redeemed themselves through merit, should find graduated increases in freedom.

Finally, I would suggest that President Obama order the Pardon Attorney to evaluate all prisoner petitions who seek executive clemency. Those prisoners who have earned freedom ought not be barred from access to acts of compassion, as Justice Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court urged.

Our country has been wrong in measuring justice through the turning of calendar pages. A better measurement for our enlightened society would be to measure justice by an individual’s efforts toward reconciling with society. Alex Gomez was a criminal justice student who inspired these thoughts through questions he asked me.

The post President Obama’s Prison Reform Advisor appeared first on Prison News Blog.

The reporter first asked for a brief description of my case, efforts I’ve made to seek a pardon, and the types of responses that have come from those efforts.

Readers should know that I seek a commutation of sentence, which is distinguished from a Presidential pardon. A Presidential pardon is an actual forgiveness of the offense. I do not seek such consideration. Rather I gear my efforts toward a request for President Obama to commute my sentence to time served.

I serve a 45-year prison term as a consequence of my convictions related to the distribution of cocaine. I was arrested in 1987, when I was 23-years-old. This has been my only period of incarceration, and there was no violence or weapons involved with my case. The government acknowledged through my presentence investigation report that since only consenting adults were a part of my crime, there were not any victims.

I first filed for a commutation of sentence in 1993, after President Clinton was sworn in for his first term. I had served the first six years of my sentence, and I hoped the record I was building and the efforts I was making to earn freedom would qualify me for consideration. I believe it was 1995 when I received word from my Case Manager that my petition for commutation had been denied. I was not given an explanation, and as a prisoner, I was not entitled to a reason. I continued.

In 2003, Carole honored me with her hand in marriage. By then I had served 16 years in prison. I had earned an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. Through my published writings, I had made meaningful contributions to society. The record I had built as a long-term prisoner, I believed, demonstrated my commitment to living a law-abiding life. I owed it to Carole to at least try to advance my release date by submitting a second petition.

I was not optimistic about the prospect for relief. President Bush was in office. His administration did not show much in the way of leadership with this controversial issue of using the executive-clemency powers of the Presidency. Nevertheless, we prepared our petition and submitted it to the pardon attorney without guidance from legal counsel.

In March of 2007, four years after we had submitted the petition, action had not been taken. Carole had called the office of the pardon attorney numerous times. Each time, a Deputy Pardon Attorney told her that my petition was being reviewed and was under consideration. Neither of us received word as to what being under consideration meant.

Nevertheless, I had made significant progress with Carole’s help during the interim four years that had passed since we initially filed the petition. Administrators had dropped my security level to minimum and transferred me to a prison camp without physical boundaries. Publishers had brought three of my books to market, and I was contributing meaningful literature to universities across America. Because of those changes that we believed distinguished my case from those of other long-term prisoners, Carole and I updated my clemency petition.

Over the past two years, the office of the pardon attorney has been remarkably consistent with its uncommunicativeness. Carole has read news reports that thousands of clemency petitions have been on file with no action taken. Advancements with my sentence, together with the change in leadership, compelled us to file another update to my petition. We filed my newest petition for commutation on March 1, 2009.

The reporter, Ms. Schenwar, asked why we think the power of the pardon has been used so sparingly in recent years. From my perspective, the answer was clearly politics. Since the days of the Reagan presidency, the pardoning process has been contaminated, or influenced by marketing campaigns for elective office. President Jimmy Carter was the last President to consider requests for clemency on the merits of each petition. Since then, decisions with regard to executive clemency seemed to have been set aside because of the vulnerability such decisions would cause in making the candidate, or the political party, appear weak on crime.

During the Bush 41 election, part of the campaign strategy was to incite voter fears on soft-on-crime decisions. The notorious Willie Horton advertisements doomed the candidacy of Michael Dukakis. Since then, politicians have been positioning themselves to win the tough-on-crime race. Being tough on crime was inconsistent with offering clemency. Thus, we have had less leadership on this issue and more politics.

There is some irony in that our nation’s prison population has grown by more than 400 percent since President Carter was in office, yet recent presidents have decimated the number of executive grants they have issued. Conservatism does not feel so compassionate to those in prison. We have become much more punitive.

Ms. Schenwar also asked whether certain prisoners were more likely than others to receive acts of executive clemency. Clearly, the rich, powerful, well-connected offenders have an advantage. They have the resources and network in place to obtain access to the President’s advisors, or sometimes to the President himself. A prisoner who can marshal lawyers or people of influence to lobby on his behalf can make a more personal case than a poor Hispanic prisoner who argues the merits of his case from deep within the recesses of a federal prison.

Obviously, people like Scooter Libby and Marc Rich had an advantage over the thousands of other prisoners who languish in prison. Neither of them even saw the inside of a federal prison, despite their convictions and sentences. Others, like the Puerto Rican group whose members were convicted of domestic terrorism, had political clout they could muster. Some have the advocacy of activist groups like FAMM, or influential people like entertainers and politicians to lobby on their behalf.

Those who can muster support, or intermediaries who will advocate on their behalf, can advance their petitions for clemency. Carole and I have not been as successful in persuading others to support our petition for clemency. Frankly, under the Bush presidency we did not have hope for relief. We therefore concentrated our energy on making contributions to society and on preparing for the challenges that I will confront after a quarter century of confinement. Now that our country has new leadership under President Obama, we intend to place more focus on my petition for clemency. We will be watching to see whether President Obama appoints a new pardon attorney, and we will seek opportunities to bring more attention and support to my petition for clemency. Meanwhile, we will remain grounded and continue efforts to prepare for the obstacles ahead.

Finally, Ms. Schenwar asked what concrete steps President Obama could take to begin the clemency process. My opinion is that people at the local level ought to have an opportunity to evaluate each candidate. I am a fan of what I have read of the ombudsman panels in Scandinavian countries. Those countries invite citizens to participate in the evaluation of prisoners. I would like to present my case to American citizens.

In federal prison, rules prohibit prison staff from taking a position of expressing support for prisoners. That means the people who oversee a prisoner’s daily adjustment cannot comment on his efforts to earn freedom. We need more transparency in the system.

I’d also like the President to authorize an objective vetting process. Prisoners who reach certain milestones through their adjustments should earn a higher degree of access or consideration. For example, a prisoner who has served a higher percentage of time, and made significant efforts to reconcile with society ought to advance his petition for consideration on merit. Wealth, power, and influence should not trump individual efforts of the poor and oppressed classes who labor to earn freedom.

Those are my suggestions. I am hopeful that we will see progress with regard to new efficiencies in the office of the pardon attorney. More than 200,000 people are locked in federal prison, and I feel strongly that prisoners need objective mechanisms through which they should be encouraged to work toward earning freedom. The pardon process should not be a political process in an enlightened society.

I urged readers to support my petition for clemency by writing a letter on my behalf.

Letters supporting a presidential commutation for Michael G. Santos should be directed to the President of the United States and mailed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Letters must reference Michael’s full name and registration number. You may use the following as a guide for beginning your letter.

Date:

Ronald L. Rodgers, Pardon Attorney

1425 New York Avenue, NW

Suite 11000

Washington, DC 20530

Re: Inmate Michael G. Santos #16377-004

Petition for Commutation of Sentence

Dear President Obama:

(body of your letter follows)

The post Thoughts on Pardoning Prisoners and Executive Clemency appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I felt surprise at the shift in emotions. My imprisonment began in 1987, more than 21 years ago. I began serving the sentence when I was 23, and I have nearly crossed the fulcrum that would disperse the greater weight of my life in prison than in society. This term has been my only period of confinement and I have no history of violence. For the most part, I have grown numb to the boundaries that surround me, and the stigma of my predicament. Prison has been my life.

From the beginning, I have worked hard and consistently to reconcile with society for the bad decisions I made as a younger man. During the early years of my sentence, I lived with the idealism that I could earn my freedom through merit. With that goal as my beacon, I worked for years to educate myself, to contribute to society, and to prepare in every way so that I could emerge from confinement as a contributing citizen.

When Bill Clinton won the White House, I naively clung to the beam of his campaign. Slightly more than five years had passed since steel gates locked me inside prison walls. By then I had earned an undergraduate degree and was enrolled in graduate school. With dreams that my transformative adjustment would influence a favorable decision, I submitted my first petition for clemency.

In 1995, Hofstra University awarded my Masters Degree and I was beginning a PhD program at the University of Connecticut. I was 31-years-old, and well educated. After more than eight years of prison, I felt as ready as possible to begin living in society as a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen. In 1996, however, my prison case manager delivered a terse statement from the Department of Justice. For reasons that did not merit an explanation or review, my petition for clemency had been denied.

With the beginning of my second decade in prison, I resolved myself to the reality that I would serve several more years. The new Congress, led by Newt Gingrich, passed more punitive legislation. The hope for relief that carried me through my first decade vanished. I settled in to the likelihood that I would serve longer than a quarter century in federal prison.

In letting go of dreams that I could somehow influence the advancement of my release date, I had to change my adjustment pattern. I committed to the pursuit of activities that might bring meaning to my life while I served a lengthy prison term. In some way, I hoped my work would contribute to society.

With help from mentors, I worked to develop writing skills. Those efforts comforted me through my solitude. Simultaneously, writing offered opportunities to help others understand prisons, the people they held, and strategies to grow through confinement.

Since that adjustment shift, I have come to accept my imprisonment. I passed through all of the Clinton years, and now we have come to the final days of the Bush years. With so much prison behind me, I believed myself immune to the disease of despondency. Yet when I read that President Bush had commuted the prison terms of two others, I felt a terrific sense of loss.

I called my wife, who has endured nearly 10 years of this journey beside me. She had not yet heard the news of the commutations. I asked her to research the prisoners whose terms had been cut. I wanted to know if they had done more to earn freedom. Carole, as always, expressed her unyielding support. She could sense my sadness and offered her characteristic encouragement to lift my spirits.

“Your release will be much more magnificent,” she said. I didn’t know what my wife meant, but I loved her for helping me through an unanticipated difficult moment. I put an end to the day quite early, stretching out on my steel rack of a bed before 7:00 in the evening. I read for a while, prayed for strength, and drifted into sleep. When I awoke this morning, I felt more in control of my emotions. The Thanksgiving holiday was only two days away. Many years of prison were behind me and more were ahead, but I could still feel gratitude for the blessings in my life.

The post A Long-term Prisoner’s Reaction to Bush’s Clemency Orders appeared first on Prison News Blog.

The United States Constitution, in Article II, Section 2, provides the President with the authority to pardon individuals for federal crimes. A pardon is a form of clemency. More than one type of pardon exists. With the general pardon, the President extends an act of grace that relieves the individual of the legal consequences that follow a specific crime. A conditional pardon, on the other hand, requires something specific from an individual in order for the pardon to be effective.

Amnesty is another form of executive clemency that falls under the President’s pardon power. Rather than granting amnesty to a single individual, Presidents grant amnesty to certain classes of people who may be subject to criminal charges but have not yet been convicted. President Carter, for example, granted amnesty to those who were subjected to criminal charges for evading the draft during the Vietnam War.

A reprieve is a pardon that suspends or postpones the execution of a sentence for a definite time. A reprieve does not excuse or change the sentence that the court imposed. Rather, a reprieve simply delays it temporarily.

A commutation of sentence, on the other hand, changes the punishment to a less severe sentence. President Bush was kind enough to commute the sentence of his friend, Scooter Libby, after a jury convicted Libby of federal crimes during the scandal that put an American intelligence officer’s life at risk for political manipulation. Rather than allowing Scooter Libby to serve the time in prison that a federal judge imposed, President Bush commuted the prison portion of Libby’s sentence by eliminating the prison time; President Bush avowed that his friend had suffered enough through the trial and did not need to serve time in prison.

In the federal system, prisoners may request an application for executive clemency from the case manager. If the individual chooses, he may write to the office of the Pardon Attorney for an application, or he can ask someone with Internet access to download an application for clemency from the Pardon Attorney’s Web site.

Under President Bush, the Pardon Attorney may have been the most laid-back position in the administration. There has been virtually no attention paid to the thousands of applications for clemency that have been on file. President Bush has been reluctant to extend acts of grace to people in prison, except for friends of the administration like Scooter Libby.

Prior to the tough-on-crime era that began with President Reagan, Presidents used their Constitutional power to pardon with more magnanimity. Fewer than 40,000 people were serving time in federal prison when I was locked inside a U.S. Penitentiary back in 1987. Yet past Presidents reviewed pardon requests regularly and commuted sentences on a regular basis. Now, with more than 200,000 people in federal custody, pardons are far rarer. During his eight years in office, President Bush has only commuted five prison terms.

I have had an application on file for executive clemency since 2003. I serve a lengthy sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. During more than 21 full years of imprisonment, I have worked hard to reconcile with society. I have educated myself, earning an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. I’ve published several books on the prison experience that university professors from across the United States use to educate students on the subjects of criminal justice and corrections. I have kept a clean disciplinary record and contributed to communities both inside and outside of prison boundaries. Most importantly, I have built and nurtured a family that will assist my transition upon release. My hopes were that those records of redemption would advance my candidacy for relief from my sentence. Yet under President Bush’s administration, my petition for clemency has gathered dust with thousands of others in the office of the Pardon Attorney.

With President-elect Obama, I have more hope. I remain grounded in reality, but I feel confident that President Obama will appoint a Pardon Attorney who will share the same vision as our country’s new President. Rather than extinguishing hope, as President Bush so expertly did, President Obama inspires all Americans to reach their highest potential. Perhaps next year, some human beings, as well as turkeys, will receive acts of grace and compassion from our new President.

The post President Bush Will Pardon Turkey before Humans: A Pardon Primer appeared first on Prison News Blog.