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...
California Eases Mandatory Sentences, Restricts Body Cameras
SACRAMENTO — California will soon end some mandatory sentences, make it easier to expunge old criminal records, bar charging inmates for medical care and ban police from using facial recognition software on body cameras under more than two dozen criminal justice bills that freshman Gov. Gavin Newsom announced signing into...