Keystone Today

John Fetterman has expressed his support for second chances for criminals, voting and advocating for criminals in Pennsylvania to be released. 

Fetterman has stated his main reason for running for lieutenant governor was to serve on the Board of Pardons where he voted to free convicted criminals. Fact checkers found Fetterman voted 26 times to commute life sentences where a law enforcement officer disagreed and voted against it and Fetterman said it is possible for someone who was released to commit more crimes.

“Our criminal justice system is broken. I believe in the power of a second chance, and for years, I have advocated for reforms to our too often unforgiving and vindictive justice system. As lieutenant governor, I have fought hard for second chances for deserving Pennsylvanians and to free the wrongfully convicted through my work as chair of the Board of Pardons,” Fetterman wrote on his campaign website. 

FactCheck.org addressed a recent ad posted by the Fetterman campaign that said Fetterman “voted with law enforcement experts nearly 90% of the time” and confirmed that statement, while also clarifying that Fetterman voted 26 times to free those convicted of first or second degree murder and the law enforcement official voted not to. FactCheck.org writes that while Fetterman was chair of the Board of Pardons, they voted to commute 50 life sentences, and the governor granted 47 of them.

According to a questionnaire from when Fetterman was running for lieutenant governor in 2018, Fetterman agreed that “tough on crime” policies were leading to an increase in prison population in Pennsylvania.

“The Board of Pardons should be used as a bully pulpit for the larger issue of criminal justice reform, and push legislators to move forward on bills like the Clean Slate Act,” he said. “There is a real opportunity to build a statewide platform that elevates and exposes the damage created by the school-to-prison pipeline, the prison industrial complex and ‘tough on crime’ policies like ‘Stop and Frisk’ and cash bail.”

In a video posted by the GOP War Room, Fetterman responds to the question, “What happens if someone gets out and does something horribly wrong?” speaking with a reporter about his advocacy for second chances and clemency. Fetterman said, There's “always the possibility” that violent offenders who are released "would hurt somebody" again.

A Philadelphia Inquirer article posted by MSN states that Fetterman “ran the Board of Pardons like an activist – and at times a bully” when he pushed for the release of two inmates serving life sentences. Fetterman claimed he would run against Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania attorney general, who had voted against most of the clemency cases Fetterman was attempting to push through, unless Shapiro began to vote with him. Fetterman eventually secured the release of Dennis and Lee Horton, two bothers who claimed innocence on a charge of murder, according to the Inquirer.

“You have an opportunity to really make a big impact on second chances,” Fetterman said, according to the article. “That, to me, means everything. You have an opportunity to decide what direction we take in our society. Should you pay for the rest of your life for a mistake that you made if you were addicted or you were young, or you were in poverty?”

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Fetterman said he “always” supports life in prison for those who commit first-degree murder. While serving as the chair for the Board of Pardons, Fetterman allegedly voted to release more than 12 criminals who were charged with first-degree murder and serving life in prison sentences. The Beacon reports on an example, where Fetterman was the only vote in favor to release Wayne Covington, convicted for shooting and killing an 18-year-old. Covington reportedly admitted guilt to avoid the death penalty. 

The Beacon gives more examples where Fetterman used his position on the Board of Pardons to “enact progressive criminal justice reform.” Fetterman unanimously voted to free a first-degree murderer with the five board members (all are required to grant clemency). Ten first-degree murderers were freed under Fetterman, including Charles Goldblum, who was convicted in 1977 for stabbing someone 26 times in Pittsburgh. Reportedly, Fetterman was “happy” when Goldblum reunited with his family. Fetterman voted to free Alexis Rodriguez and John David Brookins, who were both serving life sentences for first-degree murder. Rodriguez killed a police officer’s son in 1989 and Brookins used a pair of scissors to stab his girlfriend’s mother to death.