Michelle West is finally free today!

“Miquelle West was 10 years old when her mother, Michelle West, dropped her off at school. At the time, Miquelle didn’t know that that day would be the last time they’d see each other freely.

“‘When my mom went to prison, my world cracked,’ Miquelle wrote in a personal essay published on Medium In 2023. ‘It had always been just me and her.’

The decision to commute sentences of people like West also signals a broader shift toward normalizing the use of clemency in more capacious ways …

“In the three decades since Michelle West was convicted of aiding and abetting a murder, her story has been the subject of profiles in outlets like Truthout, as well as a 2016 documentary produced by Revolt TV. With a sentence of two lifetimes plus 50 years, clemency has been West’s only avenue for ever returning home.

“In January, in one of his final acts as president, Joe Biden commuted West’s sentence, and she could finally reunite with her daughter outside of prison walls for the first time since that school drop-off in 1993.

“West joined nearly 2,500 people to whom Biden also granted clemency. Many of these commutations and pardons highlight some of the unique ways that women enter the criminal legal system. Recent clemency campaigns and initiatives at the state and federal level are dedicated to expediting and improving the pardoning process and have increasingly acknowledged circumstances that disproportionately impact women, such as domestic violence and severe trial sentences.

“Pardons and commutations fall under the larger umbrella of clemency, which is broadly defined as an overall act of grace and forgiveness. Pardons are the complete forgiveness of a crime, erasing the conviction in the eyes of that state and restoring full citizenship rights. A commutation is a sentence reduction: Sentences can be reduced to time served, enabling incarcerated people with long sentences—including life sentences—to finally return home.

“While the president and state governors can grant clemencies at any time, officials often reserve mass pardons for the end of their term or special holidays. … There has been growing momentum among state and federal officials to improve the clemency process using ‘categorical clemency.’ Under a ‘categorical approach,’ commutations and pardons are granted to individuals sentenced for certain offenses. In particular, issues that disproportionately impact women and funnel them into the criminal legal system with severe sentences are being prioritized and sustaining new attention. …

“On a federal level, recent commutations have addressed a wide swath of offenses … For Michelle West, her case falls squarely in the category of extreme trial penalties. Over more than 30 years of incarceration, she maintained her innocence and cited it as a key reason why she chose to go to trial and rejected a plea bargain.

“When former President Barack Obama launched his own clemency initiative in 2014, it was estimated that as many as 10,000 people might secure early release—a bright point for people like West who would otherwise die inside prison without a presidential pardon. However, only 1,696 people in federal prison ultimately had their sentences commuted. Those convicted of murder-related charges, like West, were excluded from the initiative.

“Biden’s final clemencies were not only historic in number, but also significant due to the type of convictions pardoned and commuted, including violent crimes. The decision to commute sentences of people like West also signals a broader shift toward normalizing the use of clemency in more capacious ways and widening our view of who is considered an acceptable recipient of mercy and relief.”

Read the full story at PrismReports.org.