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Still-Salt2277 t1_iwm02y7 wrote

Can you petition DeSantis, the Governor of Florida for Clemency for Leo?

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lavaforgood OP t1_iwn3i1t wrote

I have had some experience with Governor DeSantis, when I testified before the Clemency Board during the pardon hearing for the Groveland Four. To his great credit, after the 2018 campaign for Governor of Florida, he stated that addressing the Groveland Four case was going to be one of the first things he did when he took office. And I think it was his second day in office when he called a Clemency Board hearing and officially pardoned the Groveland Four. I also sat next to him in Lake County, Florida when we both spoke at the dedication of the Groveland Four monument in front of the Lake County Courthouse. So I know he’s committed to justice. I know there are people in Florida who are trying to bring Leo’s case to his attention, and I think he knows I will cooperate with any investigation, either by a conviction integrity review unit, or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Florida’s history, when it comes to wrongful convictions, is not a good one. But Florida also deserves credit for being willing to improve the integrity of its judicial system by addressing some of the gross injustices from the past.

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-G.K.

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