The Supreme Court today approved Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a recommendation to commute the life without parole sentence of Gregory Sanders. The recommendation is constitutionally required before a governor can grant clemency to anyone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.”
Newsom has said he expects the commutation will not lead to immediate freedom, but to a parole suitability hearing. (Related: “Newsom grants clemency, but freedom isn’t certain”.)
The court has said it reviews clemency recommendation requests under a deferential standard. (See here and here.) And Newsom has a nearly perfect record — he withdrew one request before a ruling, but the court has approved all 54 of his other requests. That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court without explanation block 10 intended clemency grants. The denial of a request implies that a clemency grant would be an abuse of power.
There are seven other clemency recommendation requests pending, including requests for permission to commute two more life without parole sentences.
Related:
Court allows clemency for one, returns files to be redacted for four others