Memo: Governors Must Use Clemency Powers to Slow the Pandemic
By Courtney Oliva New York University School of Law Center on the Administration of Criminal Law Executive Director and Ben Notterman New York University School of Law Center on the Administration of Criminal Law Fellow
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans have now been ordered to stay home and remain indoors, while many states have ordered non-essential businesses to shutter. These steps may seem drastic, but they are being taken in order to safeguard public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Government actors who are truly serious about protecting people must take comprehensive and coordinated action to combat the spread of the virus. This means acknowledging and explicitly considering the health risks of vulnerable populations – including people serving sentences in state prisons – when crafting and implementing gubernatorial responses to reduce the risk of transmission.
