LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson wants a judge to grant an emergency order to stop the Nevada Board of Pardons' planned discussion of commuting death sentences.
The Board will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. Among other things, its agenda includes this item:
"For possible action is a discussion whether to commute all sentences of death for offenders convicted and sentenced to death in Nevada to a sentence of life without the possibility of parole."
DA Wolfson argues the discussion should not happen, writing in a recent court filing that, "The proposed action conflicts with the Constitution, statutes, and regulations that govern the Board and exceeds the Board's authority."
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According to Wolfson, a spokesperson for outgoing Gov. Steve Sisolak's office confirmed the discussion was added to the Board of Pardons' agenda at the governor's request.
That spokesperson is quoted in Wolfson's court filing as saying, "[T]he governor has always said that capital punishment should be sought and used less often, and he believes this is an appropriate and necessary step forward in the ongoing conversation and discussion around capital punishment."
Wolfson says the Board didn't follow proper procedure in adding the item to its Dec. 20 agenda, and further argues that requirements for the Board to consider granting offenders clemency haven't been met. He says his office wasn't given proper notice, and "judicial appeals have not been exhausted" in the cases of the death-row offenders whose sentences could be commuted.
Wolfson petitions the court to stop the meeting from going forward.
"Although the entirety of the meeting has been improperly noticed, the granting of Agenda Item VI would create irreparable harm to anyone who has been adversely affected by the Board's improper consideration of a blanket commutation for any sentence where the death penalty has been imposed," he wrote.
