The Massachusetts Governor’s Council approved six pardons for residents with criminal records brought forward by Governor Maura Healey at its last meeting in November. The body serves as both an advisory board and check and balance on the governor’s office, acting as the final word on appointments, clemency requests, warrants for the state treasury, and other decisions. Two years into her first term, Healey has pursued an aggressive approach to clemency. The former state attorney general issued a historic blanket pardon for all misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions earlier this year. Democrat Tara Jacobs of North Adams represents the council’s District Eight, a sprawling area that accounts for much of Western Massachusetts. Three of the six people forgiven for past indiscretions by the council last week are among her constituents. Jacobs spoke with WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes about each individual and their path to clemency, starting with Richard Barnes.
JACOBS: So, Mr. Barnes is in my district. His case originated in the Orange District Court, and he's a resident of Athol. My district goes all the way into Worcester County, actually, and so he's one of my more eastern district residents. He had- His originating offense was when he a teenager in 1968, and he has been a law-abiding citizen since halfway through his 20s, I think, is the last time he had a- He definitely had some teenage interactions with the law, and they almost all surrounded his drive to hunt. And ultimately, that ended up bringing him back for the pardon, because- This is a man who is now a senior citizen. He has served in the military, but when he came back from serving in the military, he went to Alaska for 10 years, he was a hunting guide in Alaska. He came back to Western Mass, where he has been hunting his whole life, and then there was a legislative shift that removed his right to carry a firearm because of his offenses in his early teenage years, in the late 60s, early 70s. And so even though he's been hunting for 45 to 50 years, he lost his right to carry a firearm. Ironically, I tend to call- When we have pardon requests, I call the applicants to discuss their situation, why they're asking for pardon, what benefit it will have. I actually caught him out hunting with his son or grandson, I think. And the son was using a rifle, but [Barnes] was hunting deer with a bow and arrow, because – and this is a 72-year-old man, actually, I think he's even 75 now, because this was a request made a while back – but he would love to be able to go back to hunting with his kids, his family, his friends using a hunting rifle. Usually when I see a request for a pardon related to a firearm, I raise an eyebrow, but in this particular instance, I could do nothing but fully support that this is a man who has lived a life free of any criminal infraction his entire adult life. And this is a recreational and food providing activity that he enjoys and he relies on. So, I was very happy to be to vote yes in favor of his pardon application when we voted on it last week. The other pardons that we received are an array of need and reason- Some are for immigration reasons, some were barriers to getting education that would help with a career path going forward. One was, again, a senior citizen who was having trouble finding housing. He had a barrier to housing application because of a teenage infection, and that's kind of representative of what we see when pardon requests come through.
WAMC: One of the individuals pardoned is Robert Tober, who is from North Adams, where you yourself hail from. Tell us about his situation and what led to you voting for his clemency.
He's only lived here a few years. He's moved around a bit, but his originating offense was in my district. This is a man who had a petty larceny, basically. It was a situation where it sounds like very bad judgment on one particular day, and it's the only instance of anything, and it was back in the 80s. There was a, some building materials in a parking lot, and he and her friend decided to toss it in the back of their pickup truck, and got caught doing it and the consequences for that, which are appropriate in the moment, but now, looking back all these years later, having that conviction on his record has really created a barrier to continued employment. And so that was another situation where there's someone who, since 1987, has not had any interactions with the law, and has definitely paid his dues and experienced the consequences, and now it's a real barrier to him providing for his family. So, I was happy to vote in favor of his application.
The third individual from Western Mass whose pardon you approved is Anthony Tindal. Tell us about his situation and, again, what about his case made him a good candidate for this kind of clemency.
Again, going far back, this is 1978 in Springfield – and it sounded very much like potentially racial profiling might have been in play at the time – but he was caught with some marijuana and some money in fairly small amounts, but the marijuana was bagged up into five bags, so he was charged with intent to distribute. But he has been free from many interactions with the justice system since that time, and in his instance, again, there was a barrier to employment and a barrier to some educational opportunities that would give him the kind of certification that he needed to really thrive. So, in each of these instances, they are, for the most part, these are infractions going back decades during the emerging adult time of life when impulse control is not super strong, and if you're growing up surrounded by the kind of influences that can get you into trouble, these are infractions that are of their time and of their age, and the pardons are intended to recognize that people change and deserve a second chance, and that choices that you make in your in your earlier days, while you deserve to pay the consequences for them, those consequences shouldn't create a permanent barrier to you fully thriving.
Was there any debate or discussion among the council members about these pardons?
So, the way it works is each of us have applicants from our district, and so, we decide the process for it. And there is an opportunity, if somebody wanted to do a hearing, they could. None of us chose to do so in this particular packet of pardons. We each reviewed and did our own process and then and voted to affirm the governor's request for clemency for each of these six pardon requests.
