Leniency can be granted to those accused or convicted of a crime by the governor, president, prime minister, or chief executive of a sovereign government. In the US, only the governor or president can grant pardons for state or federal crimes. Three types of clemency are reprieve, commutation, and full pardon. Clemency can be granted for humanitarian concerns or if new evidence exonerates the convict.
Leniency is mercy to the offender, and in criminal justice matters, leniency may be granted to those accused or convicted of a crime if the governor, president, prime minister, or chief executive of a sovereign government decides to grant it. In the United States, only the governor of a state has the power to grant pardons for state crimes. Likewise, only the President of the United States has the power to grant clemency to those convicted of federal crimes. There are three types of clemency, and each is granted by an executive order regardless of the type of government involved. A state executive can grant a reprieve, a commutation of sentence, or a complete pardon of the charges.
The suspension is granted by the presiding executive to prevent the passing of a sentence. Suspensions are often given to give convicts more time to prove their innocence on appeal or through the discovery of new evidence. It may also be granted to allow more time to consider whether a full pardon or a commutation of sentence is appropriate. Suspensions are more common in capital cases where they help ensure that the convicted person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They do not confer an acquittal of guilt and usually do not involve ceasing judgment in the case.
Commutation reduces or suspends the offender’s sentence. The decision to commute a sentence is usually based on a consideration of the evidence in relation to the circumstances of the case. The commutation of the sentence does not annul the sentence, it merely reduces or eliminates the sentence.
Leniency can also involve granting full or partial pardons to those convicted of felonies. The full pardon is granted in situations in which the presiding officer believes that an injustice has been committed or that new evidence has been found which exonerates the convict. A full pardon nullifies – in most cases – the conviction by giving the recipient a clear criminal record. Full pardons are often granted when the presiding executive prepares to leave office, as many pardons could have political consequences.
Humanitarian concerns can also result in the granting of clemency. For example, in cases where the sentenced person has a terminal medical condition, a pardon, commutation or pardon may be granted if the executive believes that continued detention will cause undue suffering or in order to acquire necessary medical treatment which they could not be carried out while the convict is in prison.
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