Illinois Governor acts on backlogged clemency petitions and grants multiple pardons

Critics of President Obama often assail him for being just another Chicago politician, but this recent press report on actions by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn leave me wishing President Obama would acted more like his hometown politicians when it comes to the exercise of clemency power.  Here are the details:

Gov. Pat Quinn is granting pardons to dozens of people convicted of crimes. Quinn acted on 407 petitions Friday. He pardoned 147 of their crimes and authorized two others who had previously been pardoned to seek expungement of their records. Quinn also denied 258 petitions.

Since Quinn took office he has acted on 769 petitions, but the backlog built up by his predecessor remains large. Quinn spokeswoman Marlena Jentz says there are still about 2,450 petitions awaiting action. She says 1,800 of those are left over from the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

As this official webpage reveals, President Obama has yet to act on a single one of the many thousands of requests for pardons and commutations sitting unresolved on his Oval Office desk.  Though I have urged President Obama to consider granting some clemencies since the day he took office nearly 15 months ago, at the very least he should find the time to resolve at least some of the petitions one way or another.  Even a denial seems more humane and responsible that leaving thousands of clemency petitioners (and the many thousands more who care about these persons' fate) in the dark about their status for months and months.

Some related recent posts on federal clemency realities:

• "Grandmother Will Mark President's Day By Petitioning Obama To Commute Her 27-Year Prison Sentence For Non-Violent Crime"
• Obama as Scrooge: no Christmas clemency grants
• Fitting complaints about an ugly clemency scoreboard: "Turkeys 2, humans 0"
• The true sentencing turkeys on this Thanksgiving eve
• Justified complaints that Obama's first pardon will be of a turkey
• "President Barack Obama proving stingy with his pardon power"
• Notable press stories noting Obama's lack of clemency action
• A simple plea for Prez Obama: grant at least a single clemency in your first 100 days
• Historical evidence that it is NOT too early to start demanding clemencies from President Obama
• When will President Obama start acting like President Lincoln when it comes to the clemency power?
• "The Fall of the Presidential Pardon"