Redemption

As the Trump administration ratchets up criminal prosecutions and efforts to deport undocumented immigrants and legal residents with criminal convictions, Gov. Jerry Brown has doubleddown on exercising his power to grant clemency and demonstrate his belief in the power of redemption.

On Saturday, the governor issued 132 pardons and 19 commutations, including pardons to two men, Mony Neth of Modesto and Rottanak Kong of Davis, whose past criminal convictions made them targets for deportation to Cambodia. In April, he pardoned three veterans who had served honorably in the U.S. military but then were deported to Mexico after serving time for various crimes. A pardon technically creates a path to avoid deportation.

Anyone convicted of a crime may apply for a pardon after completing the sentence. “Pardons are not granted unless they are earned,” noted the governor’s office. The majority of those pardoned were convicted of nonviolent crimes, typically drug-related. Inmates can apply for a commutation to shorten their sentence.

With these actions, Brown has granted 1,059 pardons and 37 commutations during his last two terms as governor, far outstripping his predecessors, Govs. Pete Wilson, Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (15 pardons, 14 commutations combined), and his father, Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (467 pardons, 55 commutations).

In the campaign last year to pass Proposition 57, which increased parole opportunities for felons convicted of nonviolent crimes and passed with 64 percent of the vote, Brown argued, “Why not give some of these people a second chance? Aren’t redemption and forgiveness what it’s all about?”

It serves Californians well to have the governor remind us that ours is a criminal justice, not punishment, system.