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Commuting Away Death Row

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A few governors have issued mass commutations to clear out their state's death row on their way out the door. Will California's Gov. Brown do that?  Elizabeth Llorente has this story for Fox News.

I once drafted and testified for a state constitutional amendment to prohibit pardons and commutations during the lame duck period. The outgoing governor would be limited to reprieves, with permanent changes reserved for the incoming governor. Even if the governor is not running for reelection, an abuse of the clemency power before the election would be a political problem for his party, which most outgoing officeholders care about.

The bill was killed in committee. The argument against it was, in essence, that no horse has been stolen in this state yet (just others) so we don't need to lock the barn door.

UPDATE: CJLF was featured on the John & Ken Show at KFI in Los Angeles discussing this matter. The link to the segment is here.

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The Governor race in Florida is one of the most contentious in many years. If Gillum wins, he has already said that he would stop all executions and authorize a study regarding bias. Also,several Florida Supreme Court justices are set to retire soon.

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