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Reduced prison sentence in Florida reveals that clemency is not completely dead

By Douglas A. Berman

Especially in the wake of all the bad press that the concept of clemency has received after the horrible crimes of Maurice Clemens, I am pleased to see this notable new clemency story out of Florida.  Here are the details: Today, Jennifer Martin will be free. Martin was sentenced to 16 years behind bars after being convicted of manslaughter.  She has already served eight years, but a four-person clemency board that includes Gov. Charlie Crist has agreed to cut her sentence in half. In 1998, Martin was hanging out in Ybor City one night. She met two guys named Josh Nicola and Scott Schutt. According to the prosecutor, Paul Duval Johnson, both of the men had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit. Martin did not have any alcohol in her system...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).