I was granted clemency by President Barack Obama after serving 23 years behind bars (The US founders made a grave error in granting presidents pardon power, 1 November). When I think of clemency, I think about what it was designed to do. How it’s a way to show mercy when those who issued the verdict showed none. Incarcerated people sit in prison for years waiting for someone to show up and correct an obvious wrong. The president and the governor have the power to right that wrong. I can’t imagine it being taken away.
I think back to 6 January 2021, when the Capitol was stormed, and I witnessed the violence and chaos that erupted that day. I remember how frightening it was to watch. This was not scripted. This was horror in real time.
But I wonder, will our Donald Trump extend that same forgiveness to those who have been in federal prison for as long as four decades in some cases? Will he consider pardoning those who are not as financially equipped? Maybe not. But removing the hope for clemency only hurts those who are already suffering.
Women and men have sat in prison for what some would call a lifetime, and they are deserving of freedom. Yet no one has come to save them. We talk about abolishing or limiting clemency, but the ones who need it most are left out of the conversation. In the rush to correct one injustice, we risk ignoring another.
What will it take for the president to extend mercy to approximately 152,500 men and women in the federal prison system across the US? They are waiting for someone to show up as well.
Danielle Metz
Washington DC, US
