Some clemency news and notes as we enter the holiday season

Regularly readers know that I view, and advocate for, the exercise of clemency to be a regular part of the work of chief executives, and that I consider regular use of the clemency power to be all that more important in our modern era of mass incarceration and mass punishment and massive collateral consequences.  But, since it seems some chief executives seem to wait until the holiday season to think about clemency work, I will declare that the holiday season has begun. 

Of course, the holiday season often includes my annual complaints about turkey pardons getting more attention than humans with real strong clemency cases.  But, encouragingly, some of past week's news suggests advocates, and even some chief executives, are already getting into the holiday clemency spirit:

From the AP, "North Carolina man wrongfully imprisoned 24 years pardoned"

From Channel3000, "‘A pardon can be a powerful message’: Gov. Evers issues 29 more pardons, bringing total to 307"

From Marijuana Moment, "Senators Urge Biden To Grant Mass Pardon For Thousands Of Marijuana Cases"

From the News Station, "President Clinton’s Pardon Transformed Me Into A Clemency Crusader"

From PIX11, "Advocates want Hochul to use clemency powers for older inmates"

From the Tulsa World, "Five Oklahoma Republican lawmakers urge clemency for Julius Jones"

For anyone intrigued by all this attention to clemency for real people, here are a few obligatory turkey headlines:

From the Alabama News Network, "From Gov. Kay Ivey Pardons Turkeys in Time-Honored Alabama Tradition"

From the Indianapolis Star, "Indiana turkeys will travel to White House for Biden's Thanksgiving presidential pardon"

From People, "Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Eilish Petition Joe Biden to Allow Pardoned Turkey to Live at Sanctuary"

Last but certainly not least, I am pleased to be able to highlight in this context that a terrific pardon project on which I have been working here in Ohio has been officially expanded as of this past week.  This news release from the Governor of Ohio, "Governor DeWine Expands Expedited Pardon Project to Include Law Partners in Cleveland, Dayton, and Cincinnati," starts this way:

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced the expansion of the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project, which eliminates administrative hurdles and provides free one-on-one help for qualified citizens seeking legal absolution for past criminal offenses. 

Governor DeWine launched the Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project in 2019 in partnership with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, and the University of Akron School of Law to fast-track the pardon applications of specific candidates who have become law-abiding and contributing members of society.

The expansion of the program enlists new law partners to reach more potential pardon candidates and to help guide candidates through the pardon process. 

A few prior posts about the Ohio "Expedited Pardon Project":

• Honored to be helping Ohio Gov. DeWine with new "Expedited Pardon Project"
• Terrific new editorial about Ohio Gov DeWine's terrific new "Expedited Pardon Project" 
• Heartening coverage of one beneficiary of Ohio Gov DeWine's "Expedited Pardon Project" 
• Link to the webpage for the Expedited Pardon Project