This Time Without Caveat

Clemency for Jeff Eley.  From murder in prison to death in prison. Death penalty to LWOP. 

John Kasich did the right thing.

He didn't have to.

Insofar as it has any political consequence, it won't help him with his base and won't ultimately win him the support of those who think he's generally a troglodyte.

Yet he did.

He did it sooner than he had to, leapfrogging over the possibility that some court would step in and take away any need for him to act.

He was open about it.  He issued a simple but clear press release explaining why. No hedging, no obfuscation.  Here are the facts that led me to do it, he said.

So good for him.  No qualification and no waffling on my part.

Yes, LWOP is a terrible sentence. Death in prison.  Hopelessness.  It kills the soul - or at least it can.  It denies humanity, denies possibility.

So be it.  It's not homicide.

John Kasich prevented a murder.

The Parole Board told him not to do that.  They said to kill.

He said, "No."

He didn't have to.  It's hard to see any political upside for him.

But it was the right thing.

Thank you, Governor.

Eley Clemency Press Release