Governor Gavin Newsom wants to pardon four more people, but he needs the Supreme Court’s approval for these because California’s Constitution requires a court recommendation before a governor can grant clemency to anyone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.” So, yesterday he sent four recommendation requests to the court.
The four, with their criminal records as stated in the Governor’s cover letters to the court, are:
Willard Munford. “In 1989, Mr. Munford was convicted of possession of a controlled substance for sale. In 1994, Mr. Munford was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon.”
Marc Viotti. “In 2001and 2003, Mr. Viotti was convicted of drug-related offenses.”
Kevin Thompson. “In 1979, Mr. Thompson was convicted of second degree burglary. In 1982, he was convicted of grand theft with a firearm.”
August Sterling. “In 1983, Ms. Sterling was convicted of drug-related offenses.”
The court has said it reviews clemency recommendation requests under a deferential standard. (See here and here.) And Newsom has a nearly perfect record — he withdrew one request before a ruling, but the court has approved all 74 of his other requests (including one today, but not counting now 12 that are still pending (besides the four above, see here and here)). That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court without explanation block 10 intended clemency grants. The denial of a request implies that a clemency grant would be an abuse of power.
The Governor’s requests were filed under seal. They will remain shielded from the public unless someone moves to unseal the records. If a motion is filed, the court will likely require Newsom to justify keeping all or part of the records under wraps and will then probably make redacted records available for viewing. (See here and here, and recently, here.)
