Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday requested that the Supreme Court recommend five sentence commutations and one pardon. Under the state constitution, at least four Supreme Court justices must recommend clemency before the Governor can pardon, or commute the sentence of, someone who has been “twice convicted of a felony.”

The court has said it reviews recommendation requests under a deferential standard of review. (See here and here.)  And Governor Newsom has a nearly perfect record — Newsom withdrew one request before a ruling, but the court has approved all 42 of his other requests. That’s better than former Governor Jerry Brown, who had the court without explanation block 10 intended clemency grants.

As is usual, other than relatively brief cover letters, Newsom submitted the documents supporting his requests under seal.  It will likely take a motion before the court might make at least some of the documents open to public view.  (See here and here.)

The latest recommendation requests are for:

  • Darnell Green — to commute a 1998 sentence of 45 years and 8 months for robbery and attempted robbery with sentence enhancements. The commutation would make Green eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
  • James Ratliff — to commute a 1987 sentence of life without parole plus 13 years and four months for first degree murder, attempted murder, and burglary with a sentence enhancement. The commutation would make Ratliff eligible for a parole suitability hearing.
  • Kenneth Clark — to commute a 2005 sentence of 55 years to life for second degree murder with a sentence enhancement. The commutation would make Clark eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
  • Richard Mahorney — to commute a 2007 sentence of 40 years to life for robbery as a third strike with sentence enhancements. The commutation would make Mahorney eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
  • Robert Strickland — to commute a 1995 sentence of 89 years to life for robbery and attempted robbery as a third strike with sentence enhancements. The commutation would make Strickland eligible for an earlier parole suitability hearing.
  • Steve Kirkendoll — to pardon Kirkendoll for a 1977 conviction of first and second degree robbery and a 1978 conviction of first degree robbery.

Besides these six new ones, there is one other recommendation request pending.