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Advocates Hope Hochul Delivers on Clemency Where Cuomo Failed
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Arun Venugopal
Published Dec 16, 2021
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Don Pollard/Governor’s Office
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Dec 16, 2021
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Andrew Cuomo made headlines in August, during the waning days of his abbreviated term, when he granted clemency to 10 people —including five whose long prison sentences were commuted.
The former governor called his action a step towards a more just New York. “One of the foundational promises of New York State is that of equal justice, and equal compassion, for all under the law," he said.
For criminal justice advocates, the gesture was remarkable, not as an act of benevolence, but because it was so out of character for Cuomo – who took office in January 2011 and resigned this past August amid a sexual harassment scandal. He hadn't commuted a single sentence during his first term.
Now, in this post-Cuomo era, those advocates say there are reasons to hope for a more progressive approach to clemency petitions than what they witnessed in the last decade under Cuomo: Nationally, Americans are talking more openly about racial disparities in the justice system. And the state has a new governor in Kathy Hochul.
Hochul’s press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays declined to elaborate on how the upstate Democrat plans to deal with the hundreds of requests from prisoners to have their lengthy sentences commuted. But Hochul is paying attention.
“While we cannot comment on pending clemency applications as the process is confidential, Governor Hochul is committed to improving justice, fairness, and safety in the criminal justice system, and we are reviewing applications in that context," Crampton-Hays said in a written statement.
Some Democratic activists — like Allen Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, an LGBTQ club founded on human rights and based in New York City — are encouraged by what they see as positive signals from Hochul.
“We have very high hopes that she will start granting clemencies, not only for the holidays, but throughout the year,” said Roskoff.
During his first term, Cuomo received an average of 670 requests for clemency each year, according to the state Department of Corrections, and granted none. But in 2015, his position seemed to shift, when he proposed that nonprofit groups and private law firms collaborate on clemency applications and submit far more appeals to the governor’s office.
Ted Hausman, supervising attorney of The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau, recalled the proposal as an “exciting announcement of a new era in clemency,” in which groups like Legal Aid were asked to pair with well-heeled private law firms in order to submit a far higher number of clemency applications to the state, with the governor’s blessings.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers was among them. The initiative convinced many in the legal community that Cuomo was embracing clemency in the same way President Obama had used his clemency powers to free nearly 2,000 people.
“After the announcement, lawyers mobilized and gathered facts and information about deserving people who are in New York state prisons and prepared clemency petitions for them,” said Rachel Barkow, a professor at NYU School of Law. “So the governor started receiving, pretty early on, very compelling petitions of people asking him for clemency.”
Steven Logan, senior director of digital strategies at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said hundreds of volunteers came forward.
“The bar responded to the Governor’s call for pro bono attorneys,” said Logan.
The announcement of Cuomo's clemency initiative in 2015 triggered a surge in requests. In 2016, there were 5,400 applications, seven times the number of the previous year.
“We were hopeful that there would be clemency applications granted at a substantial and meaningful scale,” said Hausman.
At the end of 2016, however, Cuomo granted clemency to seven incarcerated people, just four more than he had the previous year. In 2017, the figure fell to two. By the end of his time in office, he had issued a total of 41, or about four a year.
“From our perspective, it seemed like it was this big P.R. announcement and then nothing,” said Barkow.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, defended the former governor, arguing that the closure of state prisons in recent years resulted in a smaller prison population and leaving a smaller pool of candidates for clemency.
“The pool of potential clemencies was always shallower compared to other governors,” said Azzopardi.
Cuomo’s unwillingness to effect systemic change prompted law firms to commit less resources to clemency applications.
“The limited number of decisions has been a barrier to recruiting additional volunteers,” said Logan. “As the lack of grants wore on, potential volunteers grew wary of committing their finite resources.
Barkow said clemency can present a political risk for a governor because it is unpopular with some people. For victims advocates, the release of someone who was incarcerated before the end of their sentence can feel like an injustice. This was the case when Cuomo granted clemency to Judy Clark and David Gilbert. The pair were given life sentences for taking part in the Brink’s Robbery in 1981. The heist was committed by left-wing radicals from the Weather Underground and resulted in the killing of a security guard and two police officers.
“At every level, it is utterly disgusting that Governor Cuomo… had the utter audacity to give Rockland County a parting shot by allowing these people to walk free,” said Ed Day, the Republican County Executive of Rockland County, where the incident took place.
Gerald Benjamin, a former political science professor at SUNY New Paltz, said that as Hochul heads into the Democratic primary for governor next year, she has both a challenge and an opportunity: She can demonstrate her progressive values by granting clemency, but needs to be wary of centrist Democrats and the threat from Tom Suozzi, who is challenging her from the right.
“She could say that I'm mindful of this power and I'm using it, but I'm using it very selectively and carefully,” said Benjamin.
Tagged
prison
Kathy Hochul
andrew cuomo
criminal justice
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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