A note or letter can be as simple as, "I support clemency for Rev. Edward Pinkney."
Sign your name address.
Send letters to:
Honorable Jennifer Granholm
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan, 48909
Please contribute to Rev. Pinkney's Legal Defense Fund for the ACLU's appeal case.
Send donations to:
Reverend Edward Pinkney Defense Fund
1940 Union Street
Benton Harbor, Michigan, 49022
See 10 Reasons to Donate $10 to the Rev. Pinkney Defense Fund
Excerpt from the Detroit Metro Times story on clemency in Michigan (8/22/07):
"In Michigan, any prisoner may apply for a pardon or commutation of sentence to the state's Parole Board, which reviews the applications and makes recommendations to the governor. Public hearings must be held before the board makes a recommendation for executive clemency. Victims, their families or other interested persons who have told the Department of Corrections Office of Crime Victim Services they want information about prisoners — including notification of parole hearings — will receive updates.
If the governor grants a commutation, the prisoner's sentence is reduced to the number of years served and the prisoner goes on parole. If the governor pardons someone, the sentence is effectively voided and the prisoner is freed.
A pardon implies society's forgiveness. A commutation says justice is not served by keeping the prisoner locked up.
Overall, prisoners' requests for clemency from Michigan's governors have had varying success with the last three administrations even as the prison population has grown and pressures to control costs have increased. Granholm, a Democrat in the first year of her second term, has granted 12 commutations and one pardon...In nearly five years in office, Granholm has granted a dozen, all for medical reasons...."
