From The Houston Press: Parole Board Member Accused of Blowing Off Prisoner Interviews Gets Indicted Five More Times

We reviewed this position when we covered Article 4 of the Texas Constitution.

- Click here for the article.

If you believe Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles member Pamela Freeman, then you believe that six prisoners declined an interview with her that could have led to their release because it was fried chicken day at the prison cafeteria.

The inmates had been waiting 20 years behind bars for the interview. For many of them, it was the first chance they had to try to persuade somebody how much they've changed in the past two decades, how they've kept busy and how sorry they are for what they did.

But for the six men back in April 2014, that chance passed them by when Freeman allegedly wrote in their case files that they declined that interview. According to Kevin Stouwie, the parole attorney who filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General, the men waited outside the parole office in the Wynne Unit for their scheduled interview. Yet Freeman, for some reason, allegedly left without ever saying a word to them — they had never declined anything. Meaning, Stouwie said, that what Freeman wrote in their records was a lie.

Freeman was indicted in Walker County for one count of tampering with a government record in October 2014 — and this past February, she picked up five more indictments for the five other men, as Scott Henson over at the popular criminal justice blog Grits For Breakfast recently pointed out.

In the news: Christmastime pardons

You should anticipate a handful of questions about the separated powers and the checks and balances on the final next week. Here are some items that popped regarding on of them.

One of the principle checks the executive has over the judiciary is the pardon (also the reprieve along with granting amnesties for a category of people). Pardons have also become something of a holiday tradition. Both Governor Abbot and President Obama participated in that tradition - the governor was much more stingy.

- Gov. Greg Abbott pardons four Texans who committed minor crimes.

- Obama’s clemency list brings joy to the lucky and anguish to the disappointed.

Grits for Breakfast is unimpressed with Abbot's 4 pardons and wonders why there isn't a greater call for large scale pardons for non-violent drug offenders. There's been a movement in that direction both on the state and national level.

- Thanks for nothing, Greg Abbott: Why conservatives should demand 'industrial-scale' clemency.

I'm not a great fan of the Christmastime pardon tradition, but at least it acknowledges the gubernatorial function. So far, Greg Abbott has shirked this responsibility. To his discredit, in Abbott's first year as governor, Barack Obama has granted clemency to more Texans than him, and Obama's clemency record is abysmal.
It's not like the Texas governor really does much: Sign or veto bills, make appointments, and clemency really are the main things on his plate under the state constitution. But one of those three has been all but abandoned.

The American Conservative this week published an article lamenting "small trickles of clemency" by President Obama and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo "where what is demanded is a rushing, roaring pipeline scaled to the globally unprecedented size of our prison population and incarceration rate. We need industrial-scale clemency."

As the author recognized, "the real action is at the state level, which handles most policing, sentencing, and imprisoning." In this discussion, former Gov. Rick Perry made an appearance among "recent governors [who] have distinguished themselves with their appalling miserliness." Citing a data point which originated with research on Grits, he declared that "Rick Perry appointed a clemency board of tough-on-crime hardcases, then rejected two-thirds of their pardon and commutation endorsements."
Clemency these days mostly comes up in the context of capital murder and innocence cases. But this article suggests that governors embrace "industrial-scale" clemency aimed at reversing mass incarceration.

And in the world of celebrity pardons:

- A Christmastime Pardon for Robert Downey Jr.

The actor, who spent more than a year in prison following a drug conviction in 1996, was among 91 people pardoned Thursday by California Governor Jerry Brown.

From the Texas Tribune: Willingham Won't Get Posthumous Pardon

In 2306 we've recently looked at the governor's constitutionally defined appointment powers and will soon look at the criminal justice system - both include mention of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

The following story reports that the board will not recommend that Cameron Todd Willingham - who may have been wrongly executed - be recommended for a posthumous full pardon.

- Click here for the article.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted not to recommend a posthumous full pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed a decade ago after being convicted of setting a house fire that killed his three young daughters.

“This whole process is, unfortunately, typical of this board, where they don’t demonstrate that they’ve actually considered the substantial evidence that we’ve put before them,” said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, which has led the charge to clear Willingham's name in the case.

A story below highlighted the unwillingness of the Texas Legislature to establish an Innocence Commission to review the problems that lead to wrongful convictions. Critics argue that Texas has yet to face this problem head on.