Rejected Oklahoma plea for death penalty commutation highlights clemency's changing role in US death penalty system

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(THE CONVERSATION) When the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board decided not to recommend clemency for death row inmate Richard Glossip, the case highlighted the role clemency plays in the death penalty system.

Glossip had asked the board to commute the sentence he had been given for his role in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. He was convicted of paying his co-defendant, Justin Sneed, to kill Barry Van Treese in 1997. Van Treese owned the motel where Glossip was the manager.

The board...