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Prior
to the 1937 legislative session, Texas governors had unlimited power
to grant pardons, paroles, or commutation of sentences. It had been
this way in ‘the old states’ and, because that was the way it was
done where they left to come to Texas, that’s the way the laws were
written by the Anglo-Texans who controlled the state’s government.
As you might expect—and as still goes on in several other states—this
led to abuses of official power. Simply, it led to the sale of pardons,
paroles, and commutation of sentences.
In a sense, Texas governors ‘made retirement’ off the sale of pardons,
paroles, and commutations. Governor Pat Neff, known as ‘Pardonin’
Pat,’ ‘sold’ a horse he owned literally hundreds of times during his
administration. Somehow the horse never left Gov. Neff’s possession,
but the people who ‘bought’ the horse were soon rewarded with a family
member coming home from prison, a full gubernatorial pardon in his
or her pocket. There was even a sliding scale, based on the family’s
wealth and social prestige and on the nature and seriousness of the
offense to be pardoned. A burglary of a habitation, especially if
no one got hurt, could be pardoned for a few hundred dollars. Pardon
in a case of murder could run into the thousands by the early 20th
century.
James E. Ferguson was notorious for selling pardons, as was
his wife, Miriam A. W. Ferguson. (Her maiden name was Miriam
Amanda Wallace, and that’s where the ‘Maw’ came from, just like James
Ewell Brown Stuart was known as ‘Jeb.’) When he was impeached, convicted,
and barred from holding further elective or appointive office in the
state, he simply had his wife run for governor. Until Bill Clements,
she was the only person in Texas history to serve two non-consecutive
terms as governor.
On her final day in office, Gov. ‘Maw’ Ferguson issued over 2,000
pardons, many of them to hardened felons, each one paid for in cash.
She realized something over $2,000,000 from this, which furnished
her and Jim with a comfortable retirement cushion when they moved
from the Governor’s Mansion to a luxurious house on Enfield Road in
Austin.
This
action infuriated a great many people, including some very influential
politicians and judges. Gov. James V. Allred took office following
the last Ferguson administration. Allred was a reformer, as were a
number of new state Representatives and Senators. The Texas Legislature
passed, and Gov. Allred signed, a law creating the Texas Board
of Pardons and Paroles.
This law took the power of direct pardon away from the Governor of
Texas. He still has to sign a pardon, but on his own he can only issue
a single thirty-day stay of execution in a capital case.
To be considered for a pardon, an attorney—or attorneys—for the convict
must present a petition for pardon (or parole, or commutation of sentence)
to the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Board can take one of three
actions on the petition. It can forward the petition to the Governor
recommending the action being pled be granted. It can forward the
petition recommending he not grant the plea. It can simply take no
action on the plea, in which case the Governor never receives a recommendation.
The Governor has the power to deny the Board’s recommendation and
refuse to issue a recommended pardon. He also has the power, in the
event a petition is forwarded with the recommendation the action not
be taken, to override the recommendation and take favorable action
on the petition, but so far this has apparently never happened.
The Board is appointed by the Governor, with the Senate approving
the appointments. This is usually just a formality. Members of the
Board are private citizens, not holders of elected office. They are
usually very influential people statewide. This has made the Board
almost totally immune to lobbying and other influences.
Until 1937, getting a pardon for a crime—including a murder—was simply
a matter of allowing the individual to serve three or four years,
then going to Austin, to
the Governor’s office, with a paper sack full of money. An attorney
or other representative of the convict’s family had already worked
out, with the Governor, the price of the pardon. The family brought
the money, it was quietly handed over, and a day or so later a representative
of the Governor’s office showed up at the prison with the signed pardon
in hand. A few hours later the former convict walked away from the
prison not merely free, but with all his rights restored.
Today the process is much longer and much more difficult. Attorneys
representing the family must present a petition for pardon to the
Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Board then considers the petition,
a process which may take months or even years. They look into the
background of the petitioner, who is usually on parole by the time
the petition is submitted. They research the background and community
standing of anyone who co-sponsors the petition. They look at the
petitioner’s associates and social life. If the petitioner has been
a stable, law-abiding citizen for a number of years, has not been
in contact with those he or she associated with during the petitioner’s
criminal career, and the petitioner has a stable home life, it is
entirely likely the petition will arrive on the Governor’s desk with
a recommendation the pardon be granted. It may, however, take several
years for that to happen.
When created, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles was unique. No
other state had ever done anything like that. Some states followed
the Texas example, eliminating the sale of pardons. In others, the
major consideration for a pardon remains the price.
© C. F.
Eckhardt
"Charley Eckhardt's Texas"
April
21, 2011 column |
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