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The records must be reviewed by staff for personal and medical privacy protected information before serving. Series II. Clemency Files are restricted for attorney-client privilege.
There are no restrictions.
Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder. Policy Office: Clemency and Extradition Files, 1990-1994. Accession 35539. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Transferred from Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder on 31 October 1996.
Original folder titles have been retained.
Lawrence Douglas Wilder was born in Richmond, Va., on January 17, 1931. He graduated from Virginia Union University in 1951 and afterwards was drafted into the Army, where he served in the Korean War from 1952-1953 and received a bronze star. He then attended the Howard University School of Law and graduated in 1959. Douglas Wilder was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1969 as the first African American member since Reconstruction and served in the Senate for five terms. In 1985, he was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor as the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Virginia. L. Douglas Wilder won the election for Governor of Virginia in 1989 and served from January 13, 1990 to January 14, 1994. He was the first African American to be elected as Governor in United States.
During the Wilder Administration, the Policy Office was headed by Walter McFarlane, Executive Assistant for Policy, and four Special Assistants: Richard Taylor (Health and Human Resources, and Education), Robert Blue (Finance and Natural Resources), Jeff Nuechterlein (Economic Development and Transportation), and Lynne Porfiri (Administration and Public Safety). The Policy Office was responsible for review and coordination of all policy matters, including: review of proposed legislation from agencies and Cabinet; formulation of the Governor's legislative initiatives; tracking legislation and serving as legislative liaison; review of General Assembly approved legislation submitted to the Governor for signature, amendment or veto; review of death penalty clemency requests, as well as other pardon and restoration of rights requests; review of legal settlements and other legal matters from the Office of the Attorney General's Office; review of proposed regulations; review of all matters pertaining to the judiciary and writs of habeas corpus; review of proposed executive orders; assistance with speech writing; serving as staff for Governor's special commissions; administrative support for Governor's Fellows program; serving as special interest liaison; acting as in-house counsel; and all correspondence with policy implications or pertaining to sensitive or controversial issues requiring legal overview.
Records of the Policy Office: Clemency and Extradition Files, 1990-1994, of Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder. The collection is housed in 70 boxes and arranged into three series. Series have been designated for: Series I: Extraditions and Writs of Habeas Corpus; Series II: Clemency Files; and Series III: Restoration of Rights.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I: Extraditions and Writs of Habeas Corpus Series II: Clemency Petitions Series III: Restoration of RightsRecords of the Policy Office: Extraditions and Writs of Habeas Corpus, 1990-1993, of Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder. The records are organized alphabetically into 4 boxes. The Extraditions mostly contain memorandum from Walter McFarlane, Executive Assistant for Policy, detailing the name of the prisoner, the state which was requesting extradition, and stating the recommendation of the Attorney General. A few of the files include a copy of the extradition request and a prisoner profile. The Writs of Habeas Corpus include correspondence, prisoner profiles, memorandum, and a copy of the writ.
The records must be reviewed by staff for personal and medical privacy protected information before serving.
Series II. Clemency Files are restricted for attorney-client privilege.
This series contains clemency petitions from prisoners submitted to the Governor. The clemency petitions usually include: petition from prisoner, constituent letters (for and against clemency), court documents and opinions, summary of the case provided by the Office of the Attorney General, and a memorandum to the Governor providing background information on the case, anaylsis of petition and conclusion/recommendation to Governor.
Clemency petitions and/or correspondence for Capital Punishment cases were submitted on behalf of: Bassette, Herbert R. (clemency granted 1992); Boggs, Richard T. (executed 1990 July 19); Bunch, Timothy Dale (executed 1992 December 10); Chabrol, Andrew John (executed 1993 June 17); Clozza, Albert J. (executed 1991 July 24); Coleman, Roger Keith (executed 1992 May 20); Correll, Walter Milton, Jr. (executed 1996 January 4); Davidson, Mickey Wayne (executed 1995 October 19); Delong, Wayne Kenneth (suicide); Evans, Wilbert Lee (executed 1990 October 17); Fitzgerald, Edward B. (executed 1992 July 23); George, Michael Carl (executed 1997 February 6); Giarratano, Joseph (commuted February 1991); Jones, Willie Leroy (executed 1992 September 11); Justus, Buddy Earl (executed 1990 December 13); Peterson, Derick Lynn (executed 1991 August 22); Poyner, Syvasky L. (executed 1993 March 18); Pruett, David Mark (executed 1993 December 16); Savino, Joseph John, III (executed 1996 July 17); Snyder, Walter Tyrone (pardoned 1993 April 23); Spencer, Timothy Wilson (executed 1994 April 27); Stamper, Charles S. (executed 1993 January 19); Velasquez, Alex M. (conditional clemency 1992 November 25, died 1993 April 14); and Wise, Joe Lewis (executed 1993 September 14).
Arranged alphabetically by prisoners last name into two subseries: Subseries A: Capital Punishment Files and Subseries B: General Files.
This series contains records relating to pardons and restorations of rights submitted to the Governor. Also included are correspondence and memorandum regarding clemency and other policies from the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Arranged alphabetically by folder title.