Houston Chronicle March 5, 2020
Gov. Greg Abbott’s clemency program offers hope for trafficking, domestic abuse survivors [Editorial]
The response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement of a program offering the survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence the chance for pardons from crimes related to their abuse may have said it all.
The phones at the nonprofit Lone Star Justice Alliance were so jammed with applicants seeking information that the office had to temporarily turn them off.
“This is more than an application for clemency,†Elizabeth Henneke, executive director of the nonprofit group focused on criminal justice reform, told the Chronicle. “This tells people that they can hope again. That their communities aren’t throwing them away behind prison gates to be labeled with a scarlet letter of a felony or misdemeanor for the rest of their lives.â€
It is a policy change that could actually transform lives, families and communities.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Gov-Greg-Abbott-s-clemency-program-offers-hope-15105371.php
