Clemency Project Gets Four Commutations on Obama’s Final Day in Office
On Thursday, Jan. 19, President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 330 inmates, bringing to 1,715 the number of commutations he granted while in office—far more than any president in history. Fourteen of those commutees were represented by Professor JaneAnne Murray and her students in the Law School’s Clemency Project. Four of the 14 were commuted on the president’s last full day in office, and Robert Zauzmer, head of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, called with the happy news. Ross Arellano Edwards (’16) took the call. Among the commutees was Dan Watson, Edwards’s own client, now housed at a prison camp in Kansas. Edwards had visited Watson when he was housed at Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution in Minnesota. “It was thrilling to get the call and experience firsthand the fruits of our hard work in this project,” Edwards said. “It was especially rewarding to hear that Dan was among the commutees, and to be the first to deliver the news to Dan. He was so deserving.”
Watson, like so many of Professor Murray’s clients, had been sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence (in his case, 20 years) that deprived the judge of any discretion to fashion a sentence proportionate to the crime and the individual offender. In fact, Watson’s judge had said at the sentencing hearing that he “look[ed] forward to an opportunity to reduce [his] sentence.” This opportunity did not materialize until 2014, when Obama established his clemency initiative for nonviolent, low-level offenders, in which the prosecutor’s and judge’s views on commutation were solicited in every case. The president’s commutation means that Watson’s sentence has been effectively cut in half—a result Murray describes as “eminently just,” given the minor nature of his offense, his exemplary prison record, his complete lack of any history of violence, and his strong family support. The other clients whose sentences were commuted on Jan. 19 included Jason Stewart, Charles Price, and Donald Wagaman. The four student participants in the Clemency Project last summer—Tenzin Pelkyi (’16), Cresston Gackle (’16), Taylor Cunningham (’17), and Stacy Kalpathy (’17)—all worked on these cases. Along with Edwards, Pelkyi and Cunningham made the calls to the clients to let them know they would be going home soon.
“What is most striking about this initiative is how the president spotlighted the human being who is impacted by these draconian sentencing laws and policies,” Murray said. “He didn’t use his clemency power categorically; he used it individually, taking the full measure of the person under consideration.” In fact, White House Counsel Neil Eggleston told members of the steering committee of Clemency Project 2014 (the organization formed to mobilize the volunteer effort to represent inmates, of which Murray is a member) that the president considered each commutee's case individually, often seeking additional information and clarification before making the final decision to reduce his or her sentence.
Murray added that she and the students are, of course, disappointed for their 20 clients whose petitions were denied or deferred, but she will continue to explore ways in which these clients’ cases can be ameliorated. On Jan. 25, with the pro bono assistance of King & Spalding in Washington, D.C. and William Hamilton (’15), she filed a habeas petition under Montgomery v. Louisiana for a client serving a life sentence, whose petition was denied on Jan. 18. Murray also intends to file several requests for compassionate release for clients who meet the eligibility criteria for that prison program. Chad Pennington (’15) filed such a request for his clemency client, Terrance Merritt, which was granted in August 2015.
