Executive Clemency in the United States
New York Executive Clemency
Article 18 of the (New York) Constitution of 1777 authorized the governor, at his discretion, to grant pardons and reprieves, except in capital cases (murder and treason). This power was continued by the second (1821), third (1846), and fourth (1894) (New York) State constitutions. The governor’s power to grant commutations of sentence was added by the Constitution of 1846. Today the governor’s power to grant clemency and pardons is stated in Art. 4, Sect. 4, of the New York State Constitution. The power to grant pardons in capital cases was reserved to the Legislature by the Constitution of 1777. In cases of murder this power was transferred to the governor by the Constitution of 1821. The Constitution continues to reserve to the Legislature the power to pardon persons convicted of treason (though the present Penal Law specifies no penalty for treason).
The Executive Law requires the (New York) Governor to maintain “registers containing classified statements of all applications for pardon, commutation or other executive clemency and of his action thereon,” and to maintain “files of all official records upon which applications for executive clemency are founded.” Records of applications for and grants of executive clemency are found in various series of registers and filed papers kept by the Executive Chamber. Additional records of grants of executive clemency were created by the Secretary of State’s Office, and later transferred to the State Archives.
Archival documentation of executive clemency commences in the late eighteenth century and continues in one format or another to the present. Most of the records date from the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the number of applications for, and grants of, executive clemency increased greatly. The number of grants of clemency declined after indeterminate (variable-length) sentences were introduced for juveniles (1877) and for all first-time felony offenders (1901).
The parole system was developed in part to review applications by prisoners for executive clemency. A (New York) Board of Commissioners for Paroled Prisoners was established in each prison in 1889; these boards were succeeded by the statewide Board of Commissioners for Paroled Prisoners, organized in 1901, the Board of Parole for State Prisons, 1908, and the present Division of Parole, 1926.
Messages of the Governors
The (New York) Governor is required by the (New York) Constitution and by statute to make an annual report to the Legislature on grants of commutation, pardon, or reprieve. The Governors’ messages concerning grants of clemency or pardon have been printed in the annual Public Papers of the Governor, which commenced in the 1860s. The messages are also published separately. Between the 1850s and the 1970s the messages were also included in the annual series of (New York) Senate or Assembly Documents (through 1918) or Legislative Documents (1919-1976).
Source: Records Relating to Criminal Trials, Appeals, and Pardons, New York State Archives
See Also
Court of Chancery
Courts of Appeals
New York Criminal Courts
New York Initial Appeals in Criminal Cases
New York Final Appeals in Criminal Cases
Courts Of Special Jurisdiction
New York State Bar CLE Publications
Courts Of Record
List of US Courts
Criminal Court
Intermediary Appellate Courts
Stages of a Criminal Case
District Courts
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Executive Immunity meaning
Executive Order
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