When he wasn’t busy filling out his pension forms this week, soon-to-be ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo was signing off on some other final bits of work. He has reportedly issued pardons and commutations for ten people so far and we might not be at the end of the list. Some of those selected for this particular form of generosity will probably raise some eyebrows, particularly among their victims’ families. But suffice it to say that this isn’t exclusively a crew of white-collar criminals. I immediately found myself wondering if this was some sort of a signal to Kathy Hochul, his incoming replacement, about her ability to issue pardons as well. (NY Post)

Days after giving two weeks’ notice that he would resign his office amid a serial sexual harassment scandal, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is using the unprecedented lame-duck period to grant clemency and pardons to 10 felons — including three convicts tied to killings.

Cuomo, a three-term Democrat forced to resign to avoid impeachment, said, “One of the foundational promises of New York state is that of equal justice, and equal compassion, for all under the law.”

“Today I’m proud to help fulfill government’s unique responsibility to harness the power of redemption, encourage those who have made mistakes to engage in meaningful rehabilitation, and empower everyone to work toward a better future for themselves and their families.”

Let’s see what sort of redemption is in line for those who have “made mistakes” and sought “meaningful redemption,” shall we?

First on the list is Nehru Gumbs. He is remembered for having the honor of committing the first killing in New York City in 2004, right after New Years. After getting in an argument with someone over a woman, Gumbs went to fetch an illegal handgun, returned, and shot Tralane Walker in the head. Walker was a nurse’s aide who worked at a nursing home and had just gotten home from church. And he wasn’t even the person that Gumbs had been arguing with. He was crossing the street to greet a friend when Gumbs just assassinated him, whether it was a case of mistaken identity or just at random. I will agree that it sounds as if Gumbs has tried to turn his life around in prison, so perhaps this is justified, but that’s a lot to be asking forgiveness for.

Also receiving a commutation was Jon-Adrian Velasquez. He murdered a retired police officer in Harlem in 1998. He long maintained that he was wrongly convicted and had some celebrities taking up his cause. A jury disagreed, as did all of the courts during his appeals.

Cuomo also ended the sentence of Richard “Lee” Chalk. I suppose I won’t take issue with this one to any great extent. Chalk received a sentence of 50 years to life for his involvement in a pair of murders in 1988, but everyone agreed that he was the driver in that attack, not the shooter. He’s done 33 years for that hit job, so perhaps that’s enough.

The Governor also issued five pardons, but for very different reasons than the commutations we just discussed. All five of the recipients are illegal aliens who aren’t even behind bars. Cuomo is simply giving them pardons to prevent their deportation. If it isn’t bad enough that we have a flood of illegals streaming in over the southern border thanks to Joe Biden, we have the corrupt, outgoing Governor of New York making it harder to deport the ones we do manage to catch.

Ah, well. I suppose Cuomo had to find something to keep himself busy while he waits for those pension checks to start rolling in. Good work if you can get it.