Governor Gavin Newsom today asked the Supreme Court to allow him to pardon Jeffrey Smith, who, according to the Governor’s cover letter to the court, “was convicted of felonies in 1982 and 1988.” The letter doesn’t disclose the nature of the felonies, and, besides the letter, the documents submitted in support of a pardon recommendation have been lodged under seal. The court’s recommendation is constitutionally required because Smith has been “twice convicted of a felony.”
The court has approved 13 of Newsom’s prior requests (see here) and denied none, which is a considerably better record than for former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court block 10 intended clemency grants.
There are now seven Newsom clemency requests pending, two of them for over three months. (See here, here, and here.)
Related:
“Sanctions sought against governor over redacted clemency records”
Why is secrecy the default on gubernatorial clemency recommendation requests?
