A recent Atlantic Monthly arti­cle by Alan Berlow fea­tures a review of nev­er-before-seen sum­maries and relat­ed doc­u­ments used by then-Governor George Bush dur­ing his con­sid­er­a­tion of clemen­cy appeals filed by death row inmates in Texas. The arti­cle notes that Bush’s legal coun­sel, Alberto R. Gonzales, often pro­vid­ed the Governor with case sum­maries and doc­u­ments reflect­ing a ​“clear pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al bias” and that Gonzales’s brief­in­gs failed to raise cru­cial issues in the cas­es at hand: inef­fec­tive­ness of coun­sel, con­flicts of inter­est, mit­i­gat­ing evi­dence, and evi­dence of inno­cence. The arti­cle also notes that Gonzales now serves as President Bush’s White House coun­sel, and many con­sid­er him a pos­si­ble future Supreme Court nom­i­nee. Read the entire arti­cle.

(Atlantic Monthly, July/​August 2003) See Clemency.

Citation Guide