PARDON POWER: Florida: Commutation of Sentence

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Florida: Commutation of Sentence

In 1999, Jeffrey Sakemiller was convicted of vehicular homicide, D-U-I, driving with a suspended license, and culpable negligence. He was then sentenced 14-years in prison. It did not help that he also had 4-previous D-U-I convictions. Now, the State Clemency Board has decided he has served long enough. Incidentally, the fatality in the accident was his own 6-year old daughter. See story here.

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1833 - United States v. Wilson
1855 - Ex Parte Wells
1866 - Ex Parte Garland
1871 - Armstrong v. United States
1871 - United States v. Klein
1877 - Knote v.United States
1885 - The Laura
1890 - Illinois Central Railroad v. Bosworth
1892 - Boyd v. United States
1914 - Carlesi v. New York
1915 - Burdick v. United States
1925 - Ex Parte Grossman
1927 - Chapman v. Scott
1927 - Biddle v. Perovich
1974 - Hoffa v. Saxbe
1974 - Schick v. Reed
1975 - Murphy v. Ford
1981 - Connectictu Board of Pardons v. Dumschat
1990 - United States v. Noonan
1997 - In Re Elliot Abrams
1998 - Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard

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AMNESTY - A general or group pardon that is usually granted before conviction. This power is most commonly associated with post-war clemency, for draft evasion, sedition or other violations of selective service laws. Amnesties may or may not be conditional

CLEMENCY - At the federal level, this is a broad term which is interpreted to include all of the other terms defined in this section. Sometimes, "clemency" is described as "the pardon power," which is acceptable, so long as it is understood that, formally speaking, a pardon is one of several forms of clemency. Clemency powers can be found in all three branches of the federal government (executive, legislative and judicial). At the state level, "clemency" is sometimes meant to be synonymous with "commutation." Thus "clemency" is used to release indivduals from prison. "Pardons" in such states are used to restore the civil rights of those who have already served their time.

COMMUTATION - A reduction in the severity of a punishment that is commonly confused with a pardon. Commutations reduce the length of a sentence or the amount of a fine. Perhaps the most high-profile commutations are those that change a death sentence to life in prison, or life in prison withou the possibility of parole. Commutations can be controversial if the "reduction" is, arguably, not a reduction. Imagine a 2-year sentence being commuted to a $900,000 fine. Is that really a reduction in the severity of the punishment? Commutations can have conditions attached. Supreme Court decisions appear to suggest that commutations of sentence cannot be refused. Although there was a time when commutations were granted more frequently than pardons, they are very rarely granted today.

EXPUNGEMENT - Each state is free to define expungement as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of expungement. See also "sealing" (below)

PARDON - The removal of all disability or punishment. Pardons may be granted before or after conviction. Today, they are usually granted in order to restore civil rights (the right to vote, hold public office, participate in a jury, own a firearm, etc.). Pardons can have conditions attached. There has been a steady decline in the granting of pardons since 1900 whether one looks at the raw number of pardons, the percentage of applications that result in pardons or the percentage of presidential clemency decisions which result in pardons. There has, however, been a more accelerated decline since the late 1960s.

REMISSION - Most often, remissions were devices used to remove fines and forfeitures. In some instances, however, the word remit was used to simply remove (as opposed to reducing) a portion of a sentence. Today, federal clemency statistics do not even count remissions as a separate category of clemency decisions.

REPRIEVE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Sometimes used as a synonym for "stay." See Respite, below.

RESPITE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Typically, respites are granted for a specific number of days (30 to 60) but they have often been followed by additional respites and have also been granted in an entirely open-ended fashion (as in, "We will get back to you, when we can."). Today, the word "reprieve" is more likely to be used for an act of clemency that delays punishment.

SEALING - Each state is free to define sealing as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of sealing. See also "expungement"(above).

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

Florida: Commutation of Sentence

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