I am not a lawyer. And very often, procedure leads to wrong results. Those are cases where clemency should attack what happened at trial. When the courts mess up, it is within the power of the clemency board to recommend the person not be put to death. And the board should.
Courts make mistakes.
A clemency board member who does not think a court makes a mistake is either insanely ignorant or delusional. Sandy Howard, chief of criminal appeals for Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, disagrees. The fact that no clemencies have been granted in recent history is testimony that people on death row should be executed, Howard said. They hear that an inmate is or was mentally ill, came from a troubled childhood and had problems with either drugs or alcohol. But Presson said the role factors such as race, poverty and mental health play in the judicial system are very important and should be considered.