Dear Governor Evers,

Brendan Dassey has now suffered through 15+ years of wrongful incarceration and we call upon your executive power of mercy to correct this grave injustice and grant a pardon or commutation of sentence to time served and send Brendan home.

On December 20, 2019, the Wisconsin Pardon Advisory Board denied Brendan Dassey’s clemency petition, divesting Mr. Dassey of Wisconsin’s gilded tradition of clemency. We are a unified collective of citizens and advocates who respectfully request that you reconsider this erroneous decision.

It would be Governor Phillip La Follette who would establish and appoint Wisconsin’s first pardon board in 1935, determining the function of executive clemency and the types of cases that would be considered; among them:

• Those in which the previous history of the prisoner and his attitude in the institution indicate that he would probably be well behaved if released under supervision, but who could not be paroled under the existing statutes, and who could have his sentence reduced by the court.
• Those who probably could be safely paroled if the sentence was reduced.

Significantly, among the principles the board were to follow include:

• Careful consideration of the judicial history of the case.

Indubitably, Brendan Dassey would have met these fundamental pardon policies in 1935 Wisconsin.

More recently Governor Thompson and his successor Governor McCallum issued a combined 262 pardons over a period of five years while Governor Doyle granted nearly 300 over the course of his eight years in office. A study undertaken by the National Governor’s Association in a report on state clemency warned the nation’s governors that the full investigation of each case “is essential to prevent public relations problems or political embarrassments.” To not exercise due diligence and review the Dassey petition on its merits speaks to the issues at the heart of that study.

As the cruel hiatus of pardons came to an end under years of the Walker government, the Pardon Advisory Board was reconstituted in June 2019, yet it was May 2019 in your first TV appearance on News 3 where you stated, “It’s for people that have either served time or are already out or are in prison now that are seeking some change in their life situation – we are pretty open about that.” This statement is at odds with the board's current criteria.

Granting clemency is the ultimate act of executive grace. The US Supreme Court considers pardons to be the “fail-safe” in the legal system and the Wisconsin Constitution Article V, Section 6, empowers you with the sole authority to pardon state criminal convictions for any offense other than treason or cases of impeachment. It is a broad discretion with the only check on your pardoning power being that of public opinion. The local, national, and global opinion supports your granting a pardon or commutation of sentence to Brendan Dassey - as does his innocence.

Governor Evers you have clearly stated you believe in redemption, you also commented in May 2019 that, “not having hope, when you should have hope is the wrong thing for the state of Wisconsin to stand for.” As a coalition of voices united in the belief of Brendan Dassey’s innocence, we believe his wrongful conviction results from the extraction of a false confession at the hands of coercive interrogation techniques. Techniques based on unscientific and universally rejected behavior symptom analysis, and warrant a presumption of innocence he, as a 16-year-old developmentally delayed juvenile, was denied.

In denying Brendan Dassey's plea for clemency it was stated that Mr. Dassey did not meet two of the criteria required for consideration, the current criteria are; 

• Have been convicted of a felony in Wisconsin. 
• Have completed your sentence at least five years ago, including jail, prison, Huber, probation, community service, parole, or supervision.
• Have not been convicted of another crime since you completed your sentence. This does not include minor traffic charges (including a misdemeanor conviction for driving with a revoked or suspending license) or crimes prior to finishing your sentence.
• Not currently be required to register as a sex offender.​

These findings are predicated on Brendan being guilty. Brendan Dassey is innocent. Governor Evers when you review the petition on its merit you will soon conclude;

(a) Brendan was coerced into the giving of a false confession that lacked any corroborative evidence and;

(b) there is zero DNA or forensic evidence linking him to the supposed crime scene where the prosecution contends a sexual assault took place.

Courage and clemency are equal virtues, and when the legal system fails to protect the innocent, the vulnerable, the developmentally delayed, the overwhelmed, the juvenile, and the misrepresented, clemency is called upon. We now call on your executive power to correct the miscarriage of justice imposed upon Brendan Dassey.