CAREC
Coalition for Answers Regarding Executive Clemency
c/o Men and Women in Prison Ministries
10 W. 35th St.
Chicago IL 60616
312-927-2689
An Open Letter to Governor Rod. R. Blagojevich
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph Street, Ste. 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
312-814-2121
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
217-782-0244
TTY: 888-261-3336
Dear Governor Blagojevich,
We are prisoners of the Illinois Department of Corrections, families of prisoners, religious leaders,
human rights activists, elected officials, college and university students and faculty, and
community leaders. We are writing to you regarding an urgent, human rights issue. Former
Governor Thompson has testified that the unchallenged right to grant a pardon represents a
unique and absolute power to right a wrong or give a second chance. Your office has informed
us1 that the Prisoner Review Board (PRB) has sent recommendations to you regarding the
disposition of 1,571 petitions for executive clemency or pardon. In the overwhelming majority of
these cases, you have neither granted nor denied the petitions. Some petitions have been
pending for more than 7 years.
We commend you for acting with cautious and careful deliberation in this, the most powerful
constitutional authority conferred on any chief executive. That said, however, we feel the cases
sent to you deserve timely and critical review. We recognize that some may be without merit.
We would urge you to consider with more confidence the findings of the Prisoner Review Board,
the members of which you appointed because of their experience, competency and ability to
deliberate as a confidential panel to study every pending case. A form of triage will speed up the
process and give you the additional time for personal review of complicated cases. First,
separate cases by PRB recommendation of unanimous approval, unanimous denial or divided
vote. Trust your board and deny those petitions considered without merit. Then begin to review
and consider approval of those cases so recommended. That way these men and women can
get on with their lives or, if they feel that new evidence exists regarding why they should be
granted clemency, they can submit new petitions for consideration after another year has gone
by. Without action by you, however, they are in limbo, either in prison, or released and unable to
provide for their families.
Coalition for Answers Regarding Executive Clemency For example, one of us, Robert Crosby, filed a petition for clemency petition in 2002 while he was
incarcerated at Dixon Correctional Center for a crime for which he has steadfastly maintained his
innocence. As far as he knows, even though he is now paroled, his petition is still pending.
Another example is the case of the husband of Rev. Green, Michael Smith, N40598. Smith was
wrongfully convicted in 1980 has been in prison for 27 years. His petition for executive clemency
has been pending since 2004.
Another of us, Tabitha Pollock, had her children taken from her as a result of her wrongful
conviction. Even though she was exonerated in 2002 after being in prison for seven years, she
has been waiting a decision on her petition since then.
These petitions concern current prisoners, ex-prisoners on parole or mandatory supervised
release, and ex-prisoners who have completed their parole or MSR. In all cases their ability to
support themselves and their families and re-integrate into their communities is affected by this
delay. In addition, many prisoners do not know the status of their petition; letters are delayed, are
lost, or go to attorneys who are not always prompt about conveying this information to their
clients. Since a new petition will not be considered by the PRB for at least one year following the
denial of a previous petition, this leaves these prisoners and their families in a state of limbo and
despair. This is especially true when these petitions are based on strong cases of wrongful
conviction and a breakdown in the criminal justice system.
Compounding this problem, inquiries to your office about pending petitions are often routinely
shunted to the PRB, which sends out form letters inviting prisoners and their families to submit
new petitions before the pending petitions have been considered. This brings turmoil to these
families, who may expend large sums of money and much time organizing a new petition which
will not even be considered as long as the previous petition is still pending.
We, the undersigned, therefore urge you to take the following actions:
1. Adopt a policy that petitions will be reviewed and acted upon by your office within 3
months after the recommendations of the PRB have been delivered to you.
2. Direct the PRB to publish a listing of petitions and make it available on the Internet. This
listing should include:
Name and IDOC ID Number of the prisoner or Ex-prisoner
Type of petition filed. Types of petitions are:
Clemency
Pardon
Parole
Compassionate release.
Current status of petition. Possible statuses are:
PRB Hearing scheduled – date
Pending with the Governor
Granted
Denied
3. Ask the PRB to establish a clemency desk at the PRB that can talk to prisoners and their
families
Governor Blagojevich, these are minimal in cost and effort, but they will make a tremendous
difference in the lives of thousands of families in Illinois. We would like an opportunity to meet
with you to discuss this urgent problem. We will contact your office to arrange that meeting.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Coalition for Answers Regarding Executive Clemency[262 individuals and organizations have affixed their signatures to this letter to the Governor. If you'd like to add your signature or your group's support please post your information or send it to the IPT Admins in a private message.]
