The only New Jersey Democrat who dared to challenge US Senator Bob Menendez in 2018, Lisa McCormick, is urging Congress to address systemic flaws in the clemency process, particularly concerning its impact on poor women and the abuse of the system by crooked politicians.
“About 2.3 million people are incarcerated in the United States, which is more people per capita than any other nation in the world,” said McCormick. “Although the United States only comprises five percent of the earth’s female population, it has 30 percent of the world’s imprisoned women.”
The United States Constitution vests the President with clemency power, but Congress created a process for reviewing clemency applications that is inherently flawed, severely burdensome, and contributes to America’s mass incarceration crisis.
“Democratic and Republican presidents have circumvented the Department of Justice process because of its inefficiency and bias,” said McCormick. “Policymakers, legal advocates, academics, and people who are familiar with the federal prison system agree that it is past time for structural reform that centers on justice and equity.”
Noting that Menendez prevailed upon outgoing President Donald Trump to release his co-defendant from prison, McCormick said the corrupt practice of executive clemency highlights the urgent need for structural reform to combat America’s mass incarceration crisis and promote fairness and equity within the criminal legal system.
The Washington Post reported in February 2020 that White House advisers, led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, had taken “more direct control over pardons and commutations, with President Trump aiming to limit the role of the Justice Department in the clemency process.”
Trump’s use of the pardon power was marked by an unprecedented degree of favoritism, frequently granted to his political allies such as Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Stephen K. Bannon, and George Papadopoulos or in response to appeals for undeserving figures, as in the cases of Rod Blagojevich, Michael Milken, Joe Arpaio, Dinesh D’Souza, Clint Lorance, and Bernard Kerik.
From 2017 to 2019, the pardons included former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who was convicted of taking classified photographs of classified areas inside a submarine; Scooter Libby, a political aide to former vice president Dick Cheney; conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza. He pardoned or reversed the sentences of three American soldiers convicted or accused of war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq.
In November and December 2020, Trump pardoned four Blackwater guards convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square massacre; white-collar criminals Michael Milken and Bernard Kerik; and daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner. He also pardoned five people convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections: Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Alex van der Zwaan, Roger Stone, whose 40-month sentence for lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction he had already commuted in July, and Paul Manafort.
In his last full day in office, Trump granted 143 pardons and commutations, including to his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and former Republican congressmen Rick Renzi, Robert Hayes, and Randall “Duke” Cunningham. He also commuted the sentences of dozens of people, including former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and sports gambler Billy Walters; the latter had paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Trump attorney John M. Dowd to plead his case with Trump.
“The current clemency review process, overseen by the Department of Justice, is deeply flawed and disproportionately affects marginalized communities, including poor women,” said McCormick. “It perpetuates systemic biases, exacerbates mass incarceration, and fails to address the root causes of injustice and going outside the system invite more extreme injustice and corruption.”
The Florida eye doctor who stood trial on corruption charges with Menendez had a separate sentence commuted by Trump on his last day as president. Dr. Salomon Melgen was sentenced to 17 years in prison in a separate federal case after he was convicted on 67 of 76 counts of health care fraud.
In sentencing Melgen, Judge Kenneth Marra found that he intended to rob over $70 million and the actual fraud loss to Medicare was $42 million, but Menendez somehow managed to preserve his political influence after the corrupt political establishment refused to hold him accountable and voters neglected their duty on June 5, 2018, when only a quarter of New Jersey’s registered Democrats showed up at the polls.
The allegations in the Medicare fraud case were a major element of the corruption case involving Menendez, who tried to derail the investigation by speaking with then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about Melgen’s dispute.
McCormick emphasized that the clemency process, which is meant to be a mechanism for rectifying injustices and reducing the federal prison population, is hindered by bureaucratic inefficiencies and bias. “With over 15,000 pending clemency petitions, it’s clear that the current system is failing those who seek relief from unjust sentences,” she said.
To address these challenges, McCormick endorsed the FIX Clemency Act, a legislative proposal aimed at establishing an independent U.S. Clemency Board tasked with reviewing applications for pardons, commutations, and relief from collateral consequences of convictions.
Under the proposed legislation, the Board would be composed of nine individuals appointed by the President, including a representative who is formerly incarcerated.
“The FIX Clemency Act offers a comprehensive solution to overhaul the broken clemency process,” said McCormick. “By empowering individuals with relevant expertise, ensuring transparency, and protecting applicants from further prosecution, this legislation would create a fairer and more equitable system.”
Key provisions of the FIX Clemency Act highlighted by McCormick include:
- Empowering individuals with relevant expertise to recommend clemency directly to the President.
- Increasing transparency by publicly disclosing Board activities and recommendations disaggregated by relevant characteristics.
- Granting the Board authority to review all relevant information related to an application.
- Protecting applicants from greater prosecution.
- Eliminating the Office of the Pardon Attorney of the Department of Justice.
- Allowing defense lawyers to assist indigent clients in applying for clemency.
- Studying disparities in charging and plea bargaining decisions by United States Attorneys.
- Researching the psychological effects of incarceration on individuals.
McCormick urged Congress to swiftly pass the FIX Clemency Act, emphasizing the importance of centering justice and equity in the reform effort.
“It’s time to end the cycle of injustice and provide meaningful relief to those who have been unfairly impacted by our broken criminal legal system,” said McCormick. “Of course this is only one facet of a system that has many flaws. More than 80 percent of all arrests are for low-level, nonviolent offenses and conduct related to poverty plus we have other disproportionate results that add up to injustice. All of this can be fixed and we must make that the priority.”