We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
WHAT WILL NEW PARDON ATTORNEY DO WITH CLEMENCY BACKLOG, LEGISLATORS WANT TO KNOW
A bipartisan group of representatives has demanded information from Elizabeth Oyer, the new Pardon Attorney, about her plans for processing the 17,400-strong backlog of clemency petitions pending (some for years).
“The growing backlog of clemency petitions undermines the promise of a fair and just criminal legal system,” Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), David Joyce (R-OH), and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) wrote in a letter last week to Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer. “Every application represents a person, a family, and a community. And every delayed response represents a miscarriage of justice, a dysfunctional process, and a policy failure in desperate need of repair.”
The letter demanded a full report from Oyer by June 7 that includes “applicant demographic data (including age, race/ethnicity, gender, parental status, state of residence, incarceration status), month and year of application submission, representation by an attorney, type of clemency request, type of relief sought, type of offense(s), and office currently reviewing application.”
Bloomberg, Lawmakers Press DOJ on Backlog of 17,000 Clemency Petitions (May 18, 2022)
Letter to Elizabeth Oyer (May 17, 2022)
– Thomas L. Root