(WDRB+WAVE/WKYT ) — Kentucky voters will decide Tuesday whether to limit the governor’s power to issue and commute sentences in the final weeks of an administration.
Amendment 1 would put limits on when those pardons could happen, not allowing the commonwealth’s governor to issue them from 60 days before an election through Inauguration Day.
University of Kentucky political scientist and professor Steve Voss said the amendment may not divide voters across party lines as much as other political issues.
“Now, the interesting thing about the pardon amendment is that it’s not clearly sorting out along partisan lines,” Voss said “It first and foremost was a reaction to behavior by a Republican governor, and yet, it’s moved forward by Republican sponsors.”
The amendment follows controversial pardons issued by former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who granted hundreds of pardons and commutations near the end of his term in 2019, many of which were for violent criminals.
Political analyst Leland Hulbert said he believe those pardons played a major role in bringing the amendment before voters.
“I believe it is a direct reaction to Matt Bevin’s pardons,” he said.
Among those pardoned was Patrick Baker, who was convicted in a 2014 robbery that left a man dead. Bevin pardoned Baker after his family hosted a political fundraiser for the governor. Baker was later convicted in federal court for the same killing and sentenced to 42 years in prison.
Bevin also pardoned Micah Schoettle, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for raping a 9-year-old girl in northern Kentucky. Schoettle served less than 18 months before his release. Bevin defended the decision at the time, saying the case relied heavily on testimony rather than physical evidence.
The pardons drew criticism from lawmakers and prosecutors, including Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel, who sponsored Amendment 1 and previously called some of Bevin’s pardons “absolutely heinous.”
Voss said Bevin’s actions could influence voters across party lines, including Democrats who might otherwise be skeptical of a Republican-backed amendment.
“Democrats, on the one hand, may think it’s an attempt to curtail Andy Beshear, but they’re also going to have former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in mind,” Voss said. “So they may not see it the way some other proposals have been seen as an attempt by a Republican legislature to take power from a Democratic governor.”
Hulbert agrees.
“I think that a lot of people, in my opinion, are tired of political games and pay for play based on donations,“ Hulbert said. ”And there’s just a general distrust of politicians that it’s not a Republican thing or a Democratic thing.”
But some people pardoned under Bevin believe the amendment could harm wrongfully convicted people.
Paul Hurt spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted in 2001 of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. Hurt maintained his innocence, and the judge who sentenced him later advocated for his release. Bevin pardoned Hurt in 2019.
“If not for him, the judge and God, I would’ve died in prison as a wrongfully convicted individual,” Hurt said. “…I wouldn’t be standing here if this was in effect in 2019.”
Voss also said the issue may go beyond Kentucky politics. He pointed to controversial pardons issued by presidents from both parties as another factor voters could consider.
“So we could see not particularly partisan patterns,” Voss said. “We could see something of a bipartisan coalition supporting an amendment to curtail the ability of governors to let people out right before they leave office.”
Voss said voters are sometimes more likely to vote against constitutional amendments when they don’t fully understand them. However, he said Amendment 1 could be different because it would restrict government power rather than expand it.
And Hulbert believes the amendment would preserve the governor’s pardon power while changing when it could be used.
“I think it’s a good law that still allows a governor that great power to pardon,” Hulbert said. “They just have to do it at a better time.”
If approved, Amendment 1 would change Kentucky’s Constitution to restrict the governor’s pardon powers during the period surrounding a gubernatorial election. A vote against the amendment would leave those powers unchanged.
Election day is Nov. 3, and early voting is already underway in Kentucky. Click here for what you need to know before you vote.
