Harrisburg, PA – Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Board of Pardons Secretary Celeste Trusty unveiled a modernization project to overhaul how people in Pennsylvania apply for clemency, making it easier to ask for pardons or request a reduction in prison sentence.
The three-year project is the system’s first major update since the advent of computers, and it comes during a time when the Board, chaired by Fetterman, is its most active in decades.
The Board oversees two forms of clemency: pardons for people who are not incarcerated and sentence commutations, meaning sentence reductions, for people who are in prison and believe they are reformed and have been over-sentenced.
Fetterman applauded Governor Tom Wolf for a shift in thinking in Pennsylvania that renews the state’s commitment to clemency.
“It hasn’t always been a priority to offer second chances to people who’ve been written off and thrown away by society,” Fetterman said. “However, helping disenfranchised people turn their lives around is not just a fiscally sound thing to do. Mercy is at the core of so many religions because it also happens to be the right thing to do.”
To date, Governor Wolf has pardoned more than 1,906 people, including 256 people who filed expedited applications for minor marijuana-related offenses.
The governor has also commuted 45 life sentences, over six times more than the previous four governors combined.
Governor Wolf on Friday proclaimed April as Second Chance Month, saying a criminal record shouldn’t mean a lifetime of exclusion from building a better life for themselves or their families.
“Helping people with criminal records become productive members of society benefits both their families and their communities,” Governor Wolf said. “We know that when you leave people with no choice, recidivism increases.”
The Project: The modernization project will further streamline the clemency application process by allowing people to file complete applications electronically, including through the development of the BOP’s first mobile app.
A more automated system is expected to improve efficiency, reduce errors and redundancies, and increase transparency. Applicants will be able to track their progress online.
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