Gov. John Kasich has used his executive clemency power moderately during his 16 months in office, sparing the lives of two convicted killers but approving only 5 percent of other requests. But Kasich has done far better than his predecessor, Ted Strickland, in keeping up with clemency requests. Strickland made no decisions for nearly three years in office and rushed to complete hundreds of cases in his last few months as governor. In 412 clemency requests decided thus far, Kasich released no one from prison. However, he did block the executions of Shawn Hawkins of Hamilton County and Joseph Murphy of Marion County. Both were convicted of murder and sentenced to death; Kasich commuted their sentences to life without parole.
Kasich refused to grant clemency in six other murder cases; all resulted in executions.
Records obtained from Kasich’s office show that he approved pardons in 14 older, less-serious cases for former prisoners who wanted to clear their criminal records for employment or education purposes or, as one ex-offender asked, so he could “live out his life as a free man.”
The most high-profile case involved Kelley Williams-Bolar, an Akron mom who was jailed for fraudulently switching her children to a neighboring school district. Kasich went against the recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board and used his unfettered clemency power to reduce Williams-Bolar’s two felony convictions for tampering with records to first-degree misdemeanors.
She spent nine days in jail last year after being convicted of falsifying records by using her father’s home address to enroll her daughters in Copley-Fairlawn schools. She and her daughters lived 2 miles away in the Akron school district.
Kasich’s clemency potentially will allow Williams-Bolar to pursue her ambition of earning a teaching degree.
Kasich also corrected his predecessor’s clerical mistake by approving a pardon for Jeffrey Laughlin of Newark for 20-year-old convictions for grand theft and passing bad checks. Gov. Ted Strickland signed Laughlin’s pardon in January 2011, just before leaving office, but listed his first name as Gregory, rendering it void.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said Kasich sees clemency as being “about giving some deserving people a second chance. ... He looks at what’s the right thing to do in every case.
“There are some people whose closest friends aren’t aware of their records because they’ve dramatically turned their lives around and made something good out of it.”
Kasich rejected clemency in 386 cases overall and has 278 others to decide. More clemency requests arrive daily.
Under state law, he must have a recommendation from the Ohio Parole Board before acting.
Kasich’s 5 percent approval record, which places him among the most-conservative governors in terms of exercising clemency power, probably will change over time.
Strickland approved roughly 20 percent of the 1,615 cases he handled between 2005 to 2010, most for pardons involving low-level, nonviolent offenses. He also spared the lives of convicted killers.
Former Gov. Richard F. Celeste, a Democrat, granted 67 clemencies just before leaving office in 1991, wiping out death sentences for eight killers and shortening prison time for 26 female inmates who were victims of battered-woman syndrome.
Former Govs. Bob Taft and George V. Voinovich each approved less than 10 percent of the clemency requests they received. James A. Rhodes approved clemency in 56 of 320 cases, 17.5 percent, in 1982, his last full year in office. All three were Republicans.
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Pardon from Gov. John Kasich is rare
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