Cite as: 506 U. S. 390 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Executive clemency has provided the "fail safe" in our criminal justice system. K. Moore, Pardons: Justice, Mercy, and the Public Interest 131 (1989). It is an unalterable fact that our judicial system, like the human beings who administer it, is fallible. But history is replete with examples of wrongfully convicted persons who have been pardoned in the wake of after-discovered evidence establishing their innocence. In his classic work, Professor Edwin Borchard compiled 65 cases in which it was later determined that individuals had been wrongfully convicted of crimes. Clemency provided the relief mechanism in 47 of these cases; the remaining cases ended in judgments of acquittals after new trials. E. Borchard, Convicting the Innocent (1932). Recent authority confirms that over the past century clemency has been exercised frequently in capital cases in which demonstrations of "actual innocence" have been made. See M. Radelet, H. Bedau, & C. Putnam, In Spite of Innocence 282-356 (1992).15
Okla. Const., Art. VI, § 10, Okla. Stat., Tit. 21, § 701.11a (Supp. 1990); Ore. Const., Art. V, § 14, Ore. Rev. Stat. §§ 144.640 to 144.670 (1991); Pa. Const., Art. IV, § 9, Pa. Stat. Ann., Tit. 61, § 2130 (Purdon Supp. 1992); S. C. Const., Art. IV, § 14, S. C. Code Ann. §§ 24-21-910 to 24-21-1000 (1977 and Supp. 1991); S. D. Const., Art. IV, § 3, S. D. Codified Laws §§ 23A-27A-20 to 23A-27A-21, 24-14-1 (1988); Tenn. Const., Art. III, § 6, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-27-101 to 40-27-109 (1990); Tex. Const., Art. IV, § 11, Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann., Art. 48.01 (Vernon 1979); Utah Const., Art. VII, § 12, Utah Code Ann. § 77-27-5.5 (Supp. 1992); Va. Const., Art. V, § 12, Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-230 (1991); Wash. Const., Art. III, § 9, Wash. Rev. Code § 10.01.120 (1992); Wyo. Const., Art. IV, § 5, Wyo. Stat. § 7-13-801 (1987).
15 The dissent points to one study concluding that 23 innocent persons have been executed in the United States this century as support for the proposition that clemency requests by persons believed to be innocent are not always granted. See post, at 430-431, n. 1 (citing Bedau & Radelet, Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases, 40 Stan. L. Rev. 21 (1987)). Although we do not doubt that clemency—like the criminal justice system itself—is fallible, we note that scholars have taken issue with this study. See Markman & Cassell, Protecting the Innocent: A Response to the Bedau-Radelet Study, 41 Stan. L. Rev. 121 (1988).
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