Clemency Procedures by State

Clemency Process by State

States vary in their procedures for granting clemency. For federal death row prisoners, the President alone has the power to pardon or commute sentences.

States In Which the Governor Has Sole Authority (9)

States In Which the Governor Must Have the Recommendation of Clemency From a Board or Advisory Group (7)

States In Which the Governor May Receive a Non-binding Recommendation of Clemency From a Board or Advisory Group (8)

States In Which a Board or Advisory Group Determines Clemency (4)

Clemency procedures in states that have most recently abolished the death penalty:
Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia — Governor has sole authority.
Delaware — Governor may commute, but must first have a clemency recommendation from a board or advisory group.
Illinois — Governor receives a non-binding clemency recommendation from a board or advisory group.
Connecticut — Governor has no power to commute. A board or advisory group determines clemency.

NOTES:

* California’s governor may not grant a pardon or commutation to a person twice convicted of a felony except on recommendation of the state Supreme Court, with at least four judges concurring.
** Florida’s governor must have recommendation of a Board, on which the governor sits.
*** New Hampshire prospectively abolished the death penalty in 2019. One prisoner remains on the state’s death row.

See also the American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project’s Capital Clemency Resource Initiative Clearinghouse webpage on state clemency information.

Clemency and Executions

Like clemency processes, the frequency with which clemency is granted varies greatly from state to state. In many states, clemency has been granted so rarely compared to the number of executions carried out that its utility as a check on breakdowns in the judicial process has been called into question. More than a dozen death-penalty states have not issued any grants of clemency in death-penalty cases in the modern era (since 1976).

Here is a state-by-state list comparing grants of clemency to the number of executions since 1976.