PARDON POWER: New Hampshire: Denied

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

New Hampshire: Denied

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch and the State's Executive Council have denied a pardon hearing for Shayne Pitts, who was convicted in 1991 of killing his pregnant girlfriend. At the time of the murder, Pitts was 18 and on LSD. He received a 40 years-to-life sentence. The victim's mother supported the request, but it was opposed by the State's attorney general, the sentencing judge and state police. See story here.

Labels: New Hampshire

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David G. Adler- Political Scientist
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P.S. Ruckman, Jr.- Political Scientist

P.S. Ruckman, Jr. on the Chris Daniel Show (Audio) 1/14/09 Live interview on KMJ 580 Fresno (Format=mp3).

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Audio) 1/12/09 A BBC radio documentary on presidential pardons. Also features Alan Dershowitz and G. Gordon Liddy

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Rachel Maddow show (Video) 12/30/08 Commentary on reversed pardons (Format=Flash).

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Louis Fisher (Video) 12/27/08 interview with C-SPAN on history of presidential pardons (Format=flash).

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Audio) 12/26/08 Radio interview with Curtis Silwa of the Guardian Angels (Format=mp3)

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Audio) 12/19/08 Interview with National Public Radio's "On the Media" (Format=mp3)

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Audio) 12/4/08 interview with L.A. Times reporter Patt Morrison on Southern California Public Radio (Format=.ram)

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Audio)11/27/08 interview with John Hockenberry on a wide range of topics related to presidential pardons (Format=MP3).

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Video) 11/25/08 interview with WTVO 17 regarding possible pardon of former Illinois Governor George Ryan (R)

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Video) 11/25/08 excerpt from live appearance on the Garrard McClendon Show (Chicago)

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P.S. Ruckman Jr. (Video) 6/2/08 interview with WQFR Fox 39 regarding the Pardon Power Blog (Format=.flv)

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Daniel T. Kobil (Audio) 7/5/07 interview with David Glass on KSRO 1350 (format=MP3)

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P.S. Ruckman, Jr. (Audio) 3/1/01 interview with Juan Williams on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation"

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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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PARDON POWER

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

New Hampshire: Denied

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