Overview
All states and the federal government have a process for lowering the sentence or pardoning those facing criminal charges. Clemency is an especially important consideration for those on death row. Even after all appeals in the courts have been exhausted, there is still a possibility that the inmate’s life will be spared.
Clemencies in capital cases, however, have been rare. Aside from the occasional blanket grants of clemency by governors concerned about the overall fairness of the death penalty, less than two have been granted on average per year since 1976. In the same period, more than 1,500 cases have proceeded to execution. Among the reasons given for the granting of clemency in capital cases are: mental illness of the defendant, a co-defendant who was given a lesser sentence, inadequate legal representation, and evidence that the defendant may have been wrongly convicted.
At Issue
Because the power of clemency is vested in the executive branch of the government, courts have been reluctant to impose standards on this procedure. Governors are elected; thus the process may be highly political. For these reasons, clemencies in death penalty cases are difficult to predict and immune from judicial review.
Grants of Clemency by State
Clemencies Granted by State since 1976 | Number of Clemencies |
---|---|
Illinois | 187 |
Ohio | 21 |
Oregon | 17 |
Virginia | 10 |
Georgia | 10 |
New Jersey | 8 |
Maryland | 7 |
Florida | 6 |
New Mexico | 5 |
North Carolina | 5 |
Oklahoma | 5 |
Kentucky | 4 |
Missouri | 4 |
Colorado | 3 |
Indiana | 3 |
Tennessee | 3 |
Texas | 3 |
Federal | 2 |
Louisiana | 2 |
Arkansas | 2 |
Alabama | 1 |
Delaware | 1 |
Idaho | 1 |
Montana | 1 |
Nevada | 1 |
U.S. Military | 1 |
TOTAL | 313 |
What DPIC Offers
DPIC keeps track of all clemencies granted in capital cases in the modern era by state and year, including the reasons given for the action. It also has compiled material on historical uses of clemency. Finally, DPIC describes the differences among state laws regarding who makes the clemency decision and any constraints on the process.
Although a reprieve is technically a type of clemency, this page discusses only executive acts with permanent effects on a defendant’s conviction or sentence. Temporary holds on executions are tracked on our Outcome of Death Warrants pages.
News & Developments
News
Jul 03, 2023
Louisiana Mass Clemency Efforts Highlight Similarities to Illinois Mass Clemency 20 Years Ago
As Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (pictured) considers the clemency petitions filed by 51 of the state’s 57 death row prisoners, advocates and journalists have noted the similarities between Louisiana’s death penalty system and that of Illinois, where Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 people on death row in 2003. Both states have had high numbers of death row exonerations stemming from systemic misconduct, death sentences in both states are concentrated in a small number of jurisdictions, and both governors have expressed serious personal concerns about the…
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Apr 05, 2024
Missouri’s First Execution of 2024 Scheduled for Man Whose Trial Lawyers Had Conflicts of Interest and Who Has Unprecedented Support for Clemency
Brian Dorsey (pictured), a Missouri death row prisoner scheduled for execution on April 9, 2024, has garnered widespread support for clemency from more than 70 corrections officials, a former Missouri Supreme Court Judge, multiple jurors, Democratic and Republican state legislators, faith leaders, and his family members — several of whom are related to the victims, Sarah and Ben Bonnie — all of whom have called on Governor Mike Parson to commute his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Noteworthy among these supporters is a group of…
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Mar 20, 2024
Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole Denies Clemency for Willie Pye, Scheduled for March 20 Execution, Amid Pending Secrecy and Equal Protection Lawsuits
On March 19, 2024, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole denied clemency for Willie Pye (pictured), who is scheduled to be executed on March 20, despite arguments that he has an intellectual disability and is therefore ineligible for execution, per Georgia state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Convicted in 1996 for the 1993 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Alicia Yarbrough, Mr. Pye has spent the last 28 years on Georgia’s death row. Mr. Pye’s case has also generated public concern due to the notorious racism of his trial attorney,…
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Feb 13, 2024
Idaho Supreme Court Denies Stay of Execution to State’s Longest Serving Death Row Prisoner Ahead of Feb 28 Execution Date
On February 9, 2024, the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously dismissed two state appeals for 73-year-old Thomas Creech, thereby denying his requests for a stay of execution. Mr. Creech, who has been on death row for more than 40 years, has also requested a new clemency hearing. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on February 28, which would be Idaho’s first execution since 2012.
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Jan 25, 2024
Clemency Request for 73-Year-Old Death Row Prisoner in Idaho Has Support of Trial Judge and Prosecutor, Defense Presents Evidence of a Changed Man
On January 19, 2024, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole held a clemency hearing for Thomas Creech, who has been on death row for nearly 44 years. The Commission will now decide whether to recommend to Governor Brad Little that Mr. Creech’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole. By law, the governor is not required to follow the Commission’s recommendation. Mr. Creech faced a scheduled execution date in November 2023, but the Commission stayed the execution so that it could decide his clemency request. Mr.…
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Dec 11, 2023
Activists Call on North Carolina Governor to Commute Death Row “As an Act of Racial Justice”
In North Carolina, a coalition of activists is calling on Governor Roy Cooper to commute the death sentences of 136 people “as an act of racial justice” before he leaves office in 2024. Edward “Ed” Chapman, a death row exoneree who spent 14 years on death row, along with other advocates with the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, are urging Gov. Cooper to grant clemency to all death-sentenced individuals in North Carolina “because of the injustices of the death penalty and North Carolina’s criminal legal system…
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Dec 04, 2023
Oklahoma Executes Phillip Hancock After Governor Rejects Clemency Recommendation: “Phil’s Execution Is Simply Not Justice,” says Oklahoma Legislator
Oklahoma executed Phillip Hancock (pictured) on November 30, 2023, following Governor Kevin Stitt’s rejection of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation that his sentence be f commuted to life without parole. The governor’s indecision left Mr. Hancock waiting anxiously right up to the time of his scheduled execution when the governor’s office told the prison warden to proceed. Mr. Hancock is the 123rd person executed in Oklahoma since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. His execution is also the fourth execution in Oklahoma this year and the…
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Nov 21, 2023
Following Series of Denials, Louisiana Board to Hold Administrative Hearings on Clemency for at Least Two Additional Death Row Prisoners
The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole will consider at least two additional applications for clemency on November 27, following a tumultuous year in which nearly all Louisiana death row prisoners sought clemency in response to outgoing Governor John Bel Edwards voicing his personal opposition to the death penalty. Under the Louisiana Constitution, Governor Edwards cannot grant clemency without a recommendation from the Board; he asked the Board to set hearings so that he could fulfill his “authority and duty to consider these applications.” However, amidst opposition from…
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Oct 19, 2023
Idaho Parole Board Grants Clemency Hearing for 73-Year-Old Death Row Prisoner Facing Execution
On October 18, 2023, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole delayed the scheduled execution for Thomas Creech in order to provide him with a full clemency hearing. A date for the hearing has not yet been scheduled. An Ada County, Idaho judge previously issued a death warrant for Mr. Creech, who has been on death row for nearly 44 years, setting his execution for November 8, 2023. The Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) announced that they have secured the appropriate drugs to carry out a lethal injection execution, despite…
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Oct 17, 2023
Victim’s Sister, Faith Leaders, and Others Plead for Clemency for Will Speer, Faith Based Coordinator on Texas’ Death Row
On Friday, October 13, the sole surviving family member of murder victim Gary L. Dickerson joined dozens of faith leaders and others in asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for clemency for Will Speer. Mr. Speer is set to be executed on October 26, 2023. After a childhood of horrific abuse, a life sentence by age 18, and a judgment of death by age 23, Mr. Speer devoted himself to the study of Christianity and has become a prominent prison minister. “In my heart, I feel that he…
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Oct 16, 2023
Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole Denies Clemency Hearings for Five Death-Sentenced Prisoners
On October 13, 2023, after a brief administrative hearing, the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole denied clemency hearings for five of the 56 death-sentenced prisoners seeking clemency before Governor John Bel Edwards leaves office in January 2024. The four-member panel split its vote on four of the five applications, with a majority denying the fifth application on the grounds that Winthrop Eaton is unlikely to be executed because he is mentally incompetent. Clifford Deruise, Daniel Irish, Emmett Taylor, and Antoinette Frank were denied clemency hearings despite having…
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