UNM Emeritus Professor Quoted in Article in Washington Post on Presidential Clemency
April 28, 2014
Professor Elizabeth Rapaport, an emeritus professor of law and professor of philosophy at the UNM School of Law, is quoted in the Washington Post article President Obama has granted clemency fewer times than any modern president.
Katie Zezima's story reports on last week's announcement by the Obama administration to increase the number of clemency applications it receives.
Rapapport led the UNM School of Law Clemency Project Clemency Project in which students represent New Mexico clemency petitioners. Much of her research explores legal avenues to foster compassionate release and humane carceral care for the rapidly growing population of elderly prison inmates. She has a continuing interest in executive clemency, about which she writes, teaches, lectures, and consults.
In the Washington Post article, she is quoted as saying, "Even if this was done comprehensively, it would not be a full use of the clemency power. It would not be enough to review everybody who is so transformed or so over-punished that they deserve a second chance." She adds, "I'm sitting up and taking notice," she said. "I really feel that there will be a lot of clemency by contemporary standards."
