By Alexandra Wood
Prison abolition radically reimagines a world without criminal punishment or incarceration. While dismantling the prison-industrial complex is a long-term goal, abolition must include efforts to release individuals currently incarcerated. In this Note, I argue that clemency should be realized as an abolitionist mechanism for releasing incarcerated individuals. Employing the legal framework of abolition constitutionalism developed by Professor Dorothy E. Roberts, I argue for due process protections in clemency proceedings. I borrow from other post-conviction contexts to reason that the existence of state statutory and constitutional procedures creates a constitutionally recognized right to clemency. While due process protections may not immediately free all incarcerated individuals, these protections would encourage increased use of clemency, incrementally decreasing prison populations and realizing the goals of abolition.