Bevin commutes sentences of hundreds of low-level drug offenders as he leaves office
Former Gov. Matt Bevin flexed his executive power as he left office Monday, granting conditional commutations of sentences for more than 300 Kentuckians who were in prison for possession of a controlled substance.
Those commutations made up a significant portion of the hundreds of pardons and commutations Bevin signed during his final days in office, freeing or reducing the sentences of people convicted of murder, rape and dealing drugs.
The commutations address a pressing problem in Kentucky: massive overcrowding of the state’s prisons and jails. All 12 state prisons are full and at least 36 jails in Kentucky are packed beyond 138 percent of their capacity, according to an August analysis by the Herald-Leader. In October, the state announced plans to lease a private prison in Floyd County and move hundreds of inmates there to make a dent in overcrowding that has created potentially dangerous conditions and deprived inmates of some services.
On Monday, the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet gave Bevin a list of 336 people it said were in jail only for possession of a controlled substance. A letter to Bevin signed by Kathleen Kenney, who was interim director of the Department of Corrections, says the inmates were screened for several risk factors, including “pending detainers, pending felony charges, recent violations of community supervision, prior escapes and a history of violent behavior.”
The justice cabinet then attached a proposed Executive Order, which Bevin used to commute the remaining sentences of all 336 inmates. The only condition was that they not commit another felony offense. The order does not say how much time any of the individuals had remaining on their sentences.
The leaders of Bevin’s justice cabinet could not be reached for comment Wednesday because incoming justice cabinet Secretary Mary Noble did not keep the majority of Bevin’s political appointees. A woman who answered the phone at the justice cabinet Monday said most everyone had been given “walking papers” with the exception of a few secretaries.
Bevin also signed conditional commutations of sentences for at least 56 other inmates last Friday. None of the commutations specified what crimes the individuals had committed, only that the people had been recommended for commutation by the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and had been “screened and determined to present the lowest risk to public safety.”
Their commutations ranged from 30 to 150 days, which would be reinstated should they end up back in jail before their current sentence was scheduled to end.
Bevin isn’t the first to commute the sentences of low-level drug offenders. Between 2002 and 2003, then-Gov. Paul Patton commuted 895 sentences in two months in an attempt to reduce the prison population, resulting in a lawsuit from then-Attorney General Ben Chandler. A Franklin Circuit Judge ruled in favor of Patton.
Some of Bevin’s pardons and commutations were highly unusual.
In at least two cases, Bevin issued conditional commutations that were dependent upon the person performing some sort of action.
In one case, Bevin reduced the sentence of William Joseph Madden from 22 years to 7 years, if Madden participates in a substance abuse program, attends Alcoholics Anonymous at least once a month and is not disciplined in jail.
Madden was convicted of criminal mischief and assault in 2017 after he stole someone’s car while drunk and attempted to drive it from Allen County to Bowling Green so he could get more beer, according to a ruling by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Upon the realization that he was too drunk to drive, Madden pulled the car into a church parking lot with the intention of walking home. He was then confronted by the family whose car he stole and a fight broke out, according to that same ruling.
Michael Andrew Hardy, who was convicted of killing a 32-year-old man named Jeremy Pryor while driving drunk in Bowling Green in 2016, was granted a pardon and commutation, provided he never consume alcohol again and he “share his story and the name of Jeremy Pryor in schools, churches and other gatherings no less than six times a year over the next 20 years.”
Ed Monahan, the former Kentucky public advocate, said he had never seen a conditional commutation issued by a governor in Kentucky, but said it’s likely the governor has the power.
“I would think that that kind of commutation would be found to be legal because it’s a discretionary action by the governor and the person doesn’t have to accept it if they don’t want it,” Monahan said.
Bowling Green prosecutor Chris Cohron said his office is currently doing research to figure out how to handle Bevin’s order.
“It was so poorly written that we’re trying to see if any of it is enforceable,” Cohron said. “There’s a problem when someone doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Bevin did not reach out to prosecutors in Bowling Green or to the victim’s family before pardoning Madden and commuting his sentence, Cohron said. He said Pryor’s family is “devastated.”
“Mr. Hardy was doing almost 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood and never even hit the brakes.” Cohron said. “It’s the most clear case of wanton murder I’ve ever had.”
Courtney Baxter, president of the commonwealth’s attorney association, questioned how the state would go about enforcing such a commutation.
“I’ve never seen something like that,” she said.
Cohron had stronger words for Bevin’s actions.
“Governor Bevin has made an abomination of the pardon process,” Cohron said.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 11:46 AM.
