WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was expected to spend his last full day in office issuing a flurry of pardons and bidding farewell to the American public from a near-deserted White House and surrounded by an extraordinary security presence outside. In one of his final acts as president, Trump was expected to...
Two Convicted Valley Killers Granted Clemency by Newsom
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pardoned five people who already served their time and commuted the sentences of 21 state prison inmates, including more than a dozen convicted of murder or related crimes. The victims were children in two of the cases and a pregnant woman in...
Walters: The Pardon Power, for Good or Ill
The power of presidents and governors to overrule judges and juries by pardoning convicted felons or commuting their sentences is a vestige of ancient monarchial authority. As one history of the pardon power puts it: “The prerogative of mercy made its debut on the statutory rolls of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs during the...
Will Trump Pardon U.S. Troops Accused of War Crimes?
President Donald Trump is considering pardons for several American military members accused of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump was asked Friday at the White House about reports that he was considering pardons ahead of the Memorial Day holiday. The president said "some of these soldiers" have "fought hard...
Fresno Pastor, a Cambodian Refugee, Pardoned for 1990s Gang Killing
California Gov. Jerry Brown has pardoned three former prisoners facing the threat of deportation to Cambodia, including a Fresno man, Vanna In, who became a youth pastor after serving six years in the 1990s for murdering a rival gang member. "I feel like these things don't happen to guys like...