The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation (CJPF) today published the nation's first compilation of state-by-state and federal information on executive clemency for prisoners at its Web site .

From their press release:

"There are about 1.3 million incarcerated persons now serving state sentences and 120,000 sentenced federal prisoners. Tens of thousands of persons are serving a sentence longer than is just, because of mandatory minimum sentencing or other injustices.

These problems have been dramatized by Bob Herbert of The New York Times this summer in six columns describing unjust drug prosecutions in Tulia, Texas, and the inordinately long sentences that resulted. Many plead guilty to avoid decades-long sentences. Those who plead guilty are almost never able to appeal their sentences -- even if they are, in fact, innocent. Receiving an excessively long sentence is not a basis for an appeal. For such prisoners, often the only remedy is executive clemency.

CJPF provides information on the procedure to obtain clemency and commutation of sentence in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, as well as the federal procedure. It gives prisoners, their attorneys and their families the information they need to apply for an early release from a state or federal prison sentence. Sample application forms are provided for some states and the federal government."

Sounds to us like a great resource.