Governor Gavin Newsom last week asked the Supreme Court to recommend that he pardon Ben Chambers. According to the Governor’s request, Chambers was convicted in 1978 of second degree burglary and, in 1987, he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance for sale.
A court recommendation is constitutionally required before a governor can grant clemency to anyone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.”
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 71 of his other requests that have been ruled on. (A pardon recommendation request is likely to be ruled on today.) 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 request was filed under seal. It 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, here, and, recently, here.)
