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Committee advances bill to standardize clemency review; members question scope
Summary
S.394, described in committee as the 'Plenency Justice Act,' was reported to finance. Senators asked whether the bill would limit or change the governor’s clemency authority and whether the proposal could apply to people convicted of violent offenses.
S.394, legislation to establish application-processing and review requirements for reprieves, commutations and pardons, was advanced out of the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Victims' Crime and Correction and reported to the finance committee after brief debate about the bill’s purpose and limits.
The bill’s sponsor described the measure as intended to bring transparency and fairness to the clemency process. A committee staff speaker provided plain-language definitions during the hearing: "Pardon is forgiveness by the governor for a crime committed," the staff speaker said, adding that "commutation is a reduction in a prison sentence" and that a "reprieve is a temporary suspension or delay in the implementation of the criminal sentence ordered by the court." Those definitions were provided to frame how the bill would create application-processing standards.
Senator Dean Murray and other members questioned using language in the bill’s justification that highlighted high incarceration rates and long sentences, and asked whether the bill would permit clemency for violent offenders, including homicide and sexual offenses. Committee leaders and the sponsor clarified that the governor retains clemency authority and that the bill is intended to add transparency to how applications are processed rather than to narrow or expand the governor’s constitutional powers.
Murray said the timing—during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week—made him concerned about whether victims’ perspectives would receive sufficient weight. Committee leaders noted that victims’ input would still be part of clemency consideration and that the bill does not remove victims’ ability to submit material.
The committee voted to report S.394 to the finance committee. The record shows the motion to move the bill was made by Senator Harkam and seconded by Senator Bailey; the committee clerk recorded the bill as reported to finance. No amendments were recorded on the hearing record.
