clemency

Pike's lawyers, who filed a 226-page clemency petition, hoped for a last-minute reprieve of her execution, but it was rejected, while United Nations human rights experts had also called for the execution to be stopped.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

The grant of clemency was surprising both because I hadn’t applied for it and because I’d held office as a Democrat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Pike's lawyers had argued she should be granted clemency due to her young age and mental health issues at the time of the killing.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Of course, he didn’t have to, since as Tennessee’s Chief Executive, he has the prerogative to grant or withhold clemency as he sees fit.

From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026

In the days where you could be hanged in London from Tyburn’s triple-crowned tree for the theft of twelve pennies, the Americas became a symbol of clemency, of a second chance.

From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

But since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, only 86 individual clemencies have been granted—out of 1,659 executions.

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026

The president has issued a number of clemencies during the first year of his second term, many for defendants in criminal cases once touted by federal prosecutors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2026

Those clemencies came on top of the commutation awarded last month to George Santos, the disgraced former New York congressman found guilty of defrauding donors and lying to the House of Representatives.

From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025

A day later, top officials at the agency celebrated several people who have received pardons and clemencies in recent years, characterizing their long sentences for nonviolent drug crimes as harsh and unfair.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2023

In your greatness ye shall change it; with your justice ye shall purify it; with your clemencies ye should it chasten and amerce.

From Privy Seal His Last Venture by Ford Madox Ford