Missouri’s governor granted pardons on Monday to 24 people he says have demonstrated a changed lifestyle and desire to move on from past behaviors.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on December 2, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)
They are the first pardons granted by Governor Mike Parson (R), who took office in June 2018. The governor’s office isn’t releasing the names of the 24, until families have been notified.
“If we are to be a society that believes in forgiveness and second chances, then it is the next chapter in these individuals lives that will matter most,” Governor Parson says, in a written statement. “We are encouraged and hopeful that those individuals will take full advantage of this opportunity.”
The governor also says his legal team continues to review clemency files, and will keep working to reduce the backlog he inherited. There are currently 3,695 pending clemency applications.
Governor Parson has also announced that he’s commuting three prior drug offenders to house arrest. After their home plan is approved by Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board, those three inmates will serve the rest of their terms under house arrest.
The governor’s office will release more information about the 24 pardons at a later date.
State Reps. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, have called on the governor to grant clemency for 70-year-old Patty Prewitt, who’s been incarcerated for 34 years.
Prewitt is serving a life prison term for first degree murder, for the 1984 death of her husband in western Missouri’s Holden. She has maintained her innocence since that time, saying an intruder killed her husband and attacked her. 56 Missouri lawmakers in both parties signed the Dogan-McCreery letter that says Prewitt’s continued incarceration is not in the state’s interest.
“I remain hopeful that Patty Prewitt is on this (24 pardon) list,” McCreery tweeted at Missourinet Monday evening.
Prewitt is incarcerated at the state prison in northwest Missouri’s Chillicothe. Unless the governor grants clemency, Prewitt won’t be eligible for parole until 2036. She would be 86.
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