For many, the holiday season is a time of hope. In Illinois, almost two hundred justice-involved people and their families have had their hopes realized, as outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn granted executive clemency to 179 people on Christmas Eve as the Democratic chief executive sought to continue to clear up a backlog of clemency requests he inherited. Quinn, who traditionally takes clemency actions on or around holidays, acted on 604 requests on Christmas Eve involving cases dating to 2008, his office said. After inheriting a backlog of more than 2,800 requests that now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich took no action on during his tenure, Quinns office said he has acted on 3,962 clemency petitions, granting 1,418 and denying 2,544 petitions, since taking over in 2009. That represents a nearly 36 percent approval rate for the petitions he has considered, which experts say ranks among the highest for any current governor. In cases in which Quinn grants a clemency request for a pardon with expungement, it allows someone to seek to have his or her conviction erased from the court system. Quinns office said each person granted clemency has recently undergone a criminal background check through the Illinois State Polices Law Enforcement Agencies Data System.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 12:24:01 +0000
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