Abstract
This paper furthers our understanding of criminal justice in the Khrushchev era by examining discussions of pardon appeals from inmates awaiting execution. Transcripts of these meetings of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR reveal complex negotiations of leniency, harshness, socialist legality, judicial independence, and Communist morality by the Soviet Union’s second‑tier leaders, and in particular Presidium chairmen Kliment Voroshilov and Leonid Brezhnev. As they frankly discussed and decided on matters of life and death for murderers, economic criminals, and rapists, Presidium members ultimately helped forge the evolving post‑Stalin legal climate by amending or upholding judicial decisions. Ultimately, a trend toward judicial autonomy is evident, along with morality‑based arguments in favor of leniency (more evident under Voroshilov) or retribution (predominant under Brezhnev).
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