Topic:
APPOINTMENT TO OFFICE; CORRECTIONS; EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE NOMS. COMMITTEE; LEGISLATION; PARDONS; PAROLE; STATE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS;
Location:
EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE;

OLR Research Report


March 31, 2006

  

2006-R-0276

QUESTIONS FOR BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES NOMINEES ASSIGNED TO PARDONS HEARINGS

By: Christopher Reinhart, Senior Attorney

Board of Pardons and Paroles

• The Board of Pardons and Paroles has independent decision-making authority to (1) grant or deny parole or special parole, (2) set parole and special parole supervision conditions, (3) rescind or revoke parole or special parole, and (4) grant releases and commute punishments including the death penalty (commutations reduce the punishment to a lesser one).

• The board consists of 13 members appointed by the governor with the consent of either house of the General Assembly. Members serve for the length of the governor's term.

• The board chairman can sit on both pardons and parole release panels. He assigns seven members exclusively to parole release hearings and five to pardons hearings. Except for the chairman, no member assigned to one type of hearing can later be assigned to the other.

• The chairman or his designee and two members must conduct all parole hearings and approve or deny all parole release, revocation, or rescission recommendations from a board employee. Pardons panels consist of three members. The chairman must be on the panel for hearings on commutation of the death penalty and can be on other panels.

Pardons Questions

1. What is your philosophy toward imprisonment and granting pardons?

2. What factors and types of evidence do you view as most important? Whose testimony do you want to hear before making a decision? How much weight should be given to the testimony of a victim or a victim's family?

3. How do you weigh the different factors when considering a pardon? How do you view the inmate's burden of proof? When, if ever, should an inmate get the benefit of the doubt?

4. What influence does publicity or other pressures have on your decision?

5. Are there any circumstances under which you would find it necessary to recuse or disqualify yourself from a pardon decision?

6. The board can grant a pardon before any sentence is served. How long should someone serve before the board considers a pardon? Are there any cases in which a pardon should be granted before any portion of a sentence has been served?

7. Under what circumstances do you think conditional pardons are appropriate?

8. Do you think that people convicted of violent crimes against children or of sexual assault should be ineligible for pardon?

9. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think the board should commute a death sentence? What factors might affect your decision?

10. Should the board consider commuting a death sentence even if the inmate does not apply for a commutation? Should others be allowed to apply on the inmate's behalf?

11. PA 04-234 required the board chairman, in consultation with the executive director, to adopt regulations to establish an administrative pardons process that allows people convicted of certain crimes to receive a pardon without a hearing, unless a victim requests one. This applies in limited circumstances. What do you think of this process? It applies to a limited class of people, should it apply to more or fewer people?

12. The board must issue a written statement when it rejects a pardons application. Do you think this is an appropriate requirement?

13. A bill this session, sHB 5781, would authorize the board to issue (a) provisional pardons that include a certificate of rehabilitation and (b) certificates of employability. The bill attempts to make it easier for offenders to get jobs when they return to the community. What do you think of these proposals? Do you think they would help offenders? What standards do you think would be appropriate to apply to offenders applying under these provisions?

CR: ts