Thursday, July 23, 2026
PMT: The thousands now forgotten....
On July 10, the Trump administration denied nearly 6,000 clemency petitions en masse. It appears to have been done with a blunt instrument, as nearly all the petitions filed before 2024 were denied, regardless of whether or not they had been updated and supplemented, while newer ones-- even bad ones-- remained in play. That means that the people who have been abused by the process in having to wait for as long as 12 years now are abused again as their petitions are denied without apparent individualized consideration.
It's heartbreaking to see clemency used this way. I know that there are those in the administration, including Alice Marie Johnson, who are advocating for better outcomes.
I talked to the NY Times about this (it is at the end of this article), and here is part of what I said:
The University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis submitted more than 15 applications in response, said Mark Osler, a professor there.
Four were in the batch of rejections issued this month. The remainders are still pending, along with thousands of others.
“It’s very discouraging,” Mr. Osler said. “They’re not giving a fair shake to the people who have followed the rules, who have been leaders in prison, who have done all the programming they can, who have truly changed themselves for the better.”
