Institutional Disparities: Considerations of Gender in the Commutation Process for Incarcerated Women

Abstract

Clemency, or relief from a criminal sentence by means of commutation, is a critical component of the US system of justice. The granting of commutation—a power vested solely in the office of the head of state—generally reduces a life sentence, after conviction, to time served. The review process at a commutation hearing allows for the extenuating circumstances of a case to be considered and constitutes the final opportunity for redress of unfair trials, excessive sentences, and the denial of equal rights that may result from systemic injustice on the basis of gender, race, or sexual bias. In highlighting the patterns of control, confrontational conduct, and biased assumptions that form the framework of the eleven commutation hearings in this study, the authors argue that, rather than providing women prisoners with equitable access to a process that fairly evaluates their rehabilitation and any new evidence pertinent to their petitions, the commutation process only compounds the institutionalized disparities that haunted their trials and reinforces the retributive criminalization of women.