Thread by @MattBevin

1/20:

America is a nation that was established with an understanding and support for redemption and second chances...

2/20:

The criminal justice system is intended to find the proper balance between justice for the victims and rehabilitation for the offenders...

3/20:

When it is not possible to guarantee more of either being accomplished by further incarceration, it is reasonable for a person to be considered for either a commutation or a pardon...

4/20:

This is never an exact science...The entire criminal justice system hinges upon the judgement of third parties...

5/20:

Over the past four years, I have reviewed hundreds of applications for pardons and commutations and have read thousands of letters and supporting documents...

6/20:

I have read hundreds of pages of court transcripts and witness testimony as well as documents related to appeals that were filed in a few cases...I have spoken with many...

7/20:

Not every application that was sent in was able to be fully reviewed... Those that were not reviewed, remain in the files for consideration by future governors...

8/20:

Many that were fully reviewed were not granted...Many other applications were fully reviewed and resulted in either a conditional or full pardon, or a commutation of some part of the existing sentence...

9/20:

Contrary to that which has been falsely stated by many, not a single person was released who had not already been scheduled for a specific release date or who was sentenced with the eligibility to be considered for early release...

10/20:

The vast majority of those who were pardoned, have actually been out of prison for years and had fully paid their debt to society...

11/20:

The myriad statements and suggestions that financial or political considerations played a part in the decision making process, are both highly offensive and entirely false...

To repeat such uncorroborated rumors and lies is reprehensible...

12/20:

At the end of the day, the responsibility for making pardon and commutation decisions falls on the Governor alone...

13/20:

For anyone to question the motives and involvement of anyone else in the administration is highly inappropriate and irresponsible...

14/20:

I personally spent hundreds of hours reading every application and file of those who received a pardon...I personally wrote every word of justification for each pardon granted and each sentence commuted...

15/20:

Each case had its own set of facts, evidence, lack of evidence, supporting documents, reasons and unique details, most of which the arm-chair critics are not aware of...

16/20:

Am I perfect? No...Never have been...But I did my very best, over many hours, days, weeks and years, to reach fair and just decisions...

17/20:

Not one person receiving a pardon would I not welcome as a co-worker, neighbor, or to sit beside me or any member of my family in a church pew or at a public event...

18/20:

No community is either more or less safe now, than it was before the pardons and commutations given over the past four years...

19/20:

Good arguments could, in fact, be made to the contrary, based on what the earliest recipients of such actions have done with their lives in recent months and years...

20/20:

We are blessed to be Americans, living in a land that offers the possibility of a second chance for those who have ruined their first one...