CALL NUMBER:        S 538013

CREATOR: Governor John G. Richards (1927-1931)

TITLE: Correspondence requesting clemency ("poor devils")

DATE: 1927-1930

VOLUME: 2.00 cubic ft.

ARRANGEMENT: Series arranged alphabetically.

SUMMARY SCOPE NOTE: This series was created to contain clemency petitions submitted by "poor devils," those without the influence or resources to obtain significant community support for their request.

The series consists primarily of letters received from individual prisoners or members of their families and of letters sent from the governor's office in response. Many letters were requests for temporary parole for the Christmas holidays or family emergencies.

Often petitions were referred to the Board of Pardons for consideration under the indeterminate sentencing law. For these, the series contains copies of the court record which includes the name, known aliases, and race of the prisoner; the date of the trial; the name of the trial judge; the offense for which the prisoner was convicted; the sentence imposed; the date the prisoner began serving his sentence; and the facility in which the prisoner was being held.

Other information recorded in the series includes details of health and financial problems of prisoners and their families. Other documents include copies of furloughs granted and parole orders, as well as counter-petitions submitted by persons opposed to the granting of clemency. The series also contains a few letters from "poor devils" requesting hearings in the event of the receipt of requisitions for their extradition.

INDEX/FINDING AID: Container list available. Clemency granted is indexed in Index to Clemency Granted, 1919-1939.

LINKING NOTE: A separate record contains a biography of Governor John G. Richards.