No clemency hearing for Leavitt

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) ― The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole says it won’t consider a clemency request from condemned inmate Richard Leavitt, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 12. Leavitt was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of Blackfoot resident Danette Elg. Commission director Olivia Craven says the panel decided late Tuesday to deny Leavitt’s request for a commutation hearing. Craven says Leavitt was seeking to have his death sentence changed to life in prison. Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter received the commission’s recommendation without comment. Under Idaho law, only the governor has the authority to grant clemency on death penalty cases, but in order for the governor to do so, the parole commission must first consider the request and make a recommendation to the governor.