A recent study by Dr. Stephen Greenspan, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado, revealed that through­out American his­to­ry at least 106 indi­vid­u­als have been grant­ed posthu­mous par­dons, includ­ing 12 indi­vid­u­als who were exe­cut­ed. Although not all of the par­dons were grant­ed because of doubts about the defen­dan­t’s guilt, Dr. Greenspan found that in many instances the defen­dant was proven, or was very like­ly, not guilty and had orig­i­nal­ly received biased or unfair legal pro­ceed­ings. Among those who were exe­cut­ed and lat­er par­doned were Joe Arridy in Colorado (par­doned in 2011), Lena Baker in Georgia (par­doned 2005), and four men in Illinois who were hanged for their par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Haymarket Square riot in 1886 (par­doned 1893). Other rea­sons for the par­dons includ­ed a change in polit­i­cal, moral or legal cli­mate, or as a reward for exem­plary char­ac­ter. The author par­tic­i­pat­ed in the effort to win a par­don for Joe Arridy and not­ed that recent cas­es of inno­cence may have spurred an increase in posthumous pardons.

(S. Greenspan, ​“Posthumous Pardons Granted in American History,” March 2011). See Clemency and Executed but Possibly Innocent.

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