Under Crist, past offenders convicted of less serious felonies could have their rights restored without a clemency board hearing; more than 150,000 people regained their voting rights while Crist was in office.
A noncommissioned officer was assaulted by a captain, who was found guilty but then granted clemency without explanation.
Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan). and Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo). said flatly that they would pardon Libby, while former Wisconsin governor Tommy G. Thompson called the sentence "not fair" without committing to clemency.
Only upon the board's recommendation could Gov. George W. Bush have then granted clemency; without that recommendation, he could have only given her a 30-day reprieve.
But those that do not will find their right to self-determination withdrawn by the markets, and new rules imposed by their creditors, without warning or clemency.
As Governor he cut taxes (and government services) sharply, opened the public school system to private competition, allowed more death-row executions than his predecessors without once offering clemency and took strong stances on limiting abortion.
But Mr. Clinton notified the committee earlier this week that he would allow his aides to testify fully about the Rich pardon and other grants of clemency without asserting executive privilege.
On Monday the state administrative court in Jakarta dismissed Atlaoui's appeal, in which his lawyers argued that the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, had rejected the convict's plea for clemency without proper consideration.
Asked if that meant Mr. Cuomo supported clemency five years ago without first studying the case fully, the officials said he had recommended at the time only that clemency be considered, not that it be granted.
Alexander Hamilton predicted in Federalist Paper number 74 that without "easy access" to clemency our nation's justice system and democracy would not work properly.
