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Thread: Outgoing Gov. Strickland grants mercy to 39 convicts

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Outgoing Gov. Strickland grants mercy to 39 convicts

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland has granted clemency to 39 people after a review of 176 cases pending from 2008.

    Strickland, a Democrat, issued 33 pardons Tuesday to former inmates and commuted the sentences of six convicts. Those still behind bars will become eligible for parole or release. The governor denied clemency in 137 of the 2008 cases.

    None of the cases involved the death penalty, and Strickland's office said most are associated with minor or nonviolent offenses.

    “Executive clemency power is an important part of our justice system it provides a second chance to those who have earned one and ensures that unusually long sentences are in line with similar cases,” Strickland said in a statement. “This process also provides an opportunity to show mercy and forgiveness to those who have recognized what is expected of them in our society and who remain committed to being productive and responsible citizens.”

    Those granted mercy were convicted of sentences including theft, burglary, passing bad checks, drug trafficking and marijuana possession.

    Among case decisions released Tuesday, Strickland sided with the Ohio Parole Board 163 times and parted ways 13 times. Of the 13 cases where he disagreed, two were cases where the board had recommended clemency and 11 were cases where the board recommended denying clemency.

    Strickland, a former prison psychologist who supports the death penalty, most recently granted clemency in a death penalty case last week, when he spared the life of murderer Sidney Cornwell in part because of the handling of evidence during his trial related to an undiagnosed medical condition that led to developmental and physical issues. Cornwell was the third death row inmate spared execution this year.

    In November 2009, Strickland granted clemency to another 78 people in non-death-penalty cases. Those decisions followed a review of three years of earlier requests for mercy or pardon that had accumulated.

    http://toledoblade.com/article/20101...WS24/101129841

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Strickland grants clemency to 43 people

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — In his last week in office, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday granted clemency to 43 people after a review of more than 300 pending requests.

    Strickland, a Democrat and a former prison psychologist, issued 37 pardons to former inmates and commuted the sentences of six convicts. He denied clemency in 334 of the 377 requests.

    None of the cases involved the death penalty, and nearly all were from 2009. Strickland’s office says most are associated with minor or non-violent offenses.

    Those granted clemency were convicted of sentences including theft, burglary, passing bad checks, disorderly conduct and marijuana possession.

    “This critical process in our justice system offers mercy to individuals who have illustrated that they are ready to regain positions as productive and responsible citizens in our society,” Strickland said in a statement.

    The pardons went to people who have completed their entire sentence, or never went to prison, his office said.

    Among the pardoned was James Lee Preston, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a Greene County court in 2001. Preston, 63, was sentenced to six months in jail, five years on probation and a three-year driver’s license suspension.

    Strickland decided in three commutations that the sentence for the crime was a “fundamental injustice, or was overly disproportionate to the sentences imposed upon others committing similar offenses,” his office said.

    The governor reduced Clifford Jones’ flat sentence of 39 years in prison to a range of 18 to 39 years. Jones, 34, was convicted of theft, kidnapping and aggravated robbery in a southern Ohio court in 1998.

    Strickland disagreed with the Ohio Parole Board’s recommendations 26 times. Of those, he broke with them in their recommendation to grant clemency three times. He went against their advice to deny clemency 23 times.

    The governor’s office said he intends to decide other clemency cases later this week before leaving office on Sunday.

    http://toledoblade.com/article/20110...WS24/110109854

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