Panel Is Facing Deadline on Immigrants' Pardons

New York Times: In May, as the federal government increased deportations and some states sought to tighten immigration enforcement, Gov. David A. Paterson caused a national stir by announcing a push in the opposite direction: a state effort to speed the granting of pardons to immigrants facing deportation for old or minor criminal convictions. Nearly six months later, that initiative is finally coming to fruition — with little time to spare. Hundreds of petitions from legal permanent residents for pardons have swamped the New York governor’s office, and a special clemency panel is rushing to sift through them and make recommendations to Mr. Paterson before his term and the program end on Dec. 31. The vast majority of the requests were mailed just before an Oct. 1 deadline, compelling the panel to double the frequency of its meetings. “The expectation is that when all is said and done, there will be well over 1,000” petitions, said Morgan Hook, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson. “We literally have boxes of them sitting in the hallway.” Some of the petitions are elaborate, bound documents numbering scores of pages, with color photographs and affidavits from relatives, employers and others testifying to the petitioners’ worthiness for clemency. “To some extent this is a competition,” said Manoj Viswanathon, a lawyer who filed a petition on behalf of a Frenchman who holds a green card and served three years in prison in the early 1990s for narcotics and firearm convictions. “It’s like applying to college: there’s so much competition, you want to make your packet stand out.” But unlike many college applicants, these petitioners are almost completely in the dark about their chances for success. The Paterson administration will say little about the decision-making process or how many pardons the governor expects to issue.