New Report: Fraught Findings: A Critical Look at the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons

For Immediate Release:

In early June, the Commutation Now Campaign released the report, “Fraught Findings: A Critical Look at the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons”.  The report investigates the procedures and personnel of the PA Board of Pardons (BOP), the 5 person entity charged with making judgements on all people in PA applying for commutation or pardons.

Fraught Findings uncovers a number of patterns and procedural gaps that have caused a stark decline in the number of approved commutation applications during the current administration.

Drafted by a forensic investigator, this 14 page report synthesizes research from over a dozen interviews with former BOP members, staff, commutation applicants, and lawyers detailing how the sitting Board operates, including the participation and voting record of the current members. 

The report concludes three key findings:

  1. The commutation process, by which people sentenced to life without parole request release from prison from the BOP, is not clearly defined, not transparent, and inherently political. In addition, members of the BOP are not required to have any experience with state prisons or with people serving life without parole.
  2. In stark contrast, the parole application process is clearly defined and members of the Parole Board, an independent agency statutorily prohibited from reviewing the cases of people serving life without parole, are required to have “at least six years of professional experience in parole, probation, social work, or related areas.”
  3. Board of Pardons member John P. Williams, a psychiatrist who has not worked in a state prison or with incarcerated people, routinely asks commutation applicants inappropriate questions reflecting “lurid curiosity.”

The commutation process, intended to be a counterbalance to PA’s harsh mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentencing laws, is the only way for the over 5,000 people serving life sentences to obtain release after demonstrating their rehabilitation. The use of LWOP sentencing has increased for decades, while approved commutation applications have diminished considerably since the 1970s, aside from a temporary surge during the Wolf administration. This has resulted in a growing population of aging prisoners with increasing health needs and cost. There are 1,180 people with life sentences who are over the age of 65, costing at least $77 million a year to incarcerate them, at a low estimate. 

Commutation Now! is a PA statewide initiative made up of long-time advocates, family members, formerly incarcerated people and loved ones of people sentenced to die in prison. They have been studying the PA commutation process for years, noting that Gov. Shapiro’s administration has dramatically reduced the number of approved commutations, compared to his predecessor Gov. Wolf. The campaign is calling on Gov. Shapiro, and members of the PA Senate, to approve a new member for the Board, as Williams, the current psychiatrist, has proved to be an inappropriate and unqualified member to sit on the Board. Williams’ term is up in November of this year. The only requirement, according to the PA constitution, of the new appointee is that the person is a doctor of medicine, psychologist or psychiatrist.

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Contact: Jane Hein
Phone #: 412-818-9621
Email: commutationnow@gmail.com
Fraught Findings Report