Commutation of Sentence
Title
Commutation of Sentence
Creator
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Identifier
WWP15060
Date
1920 May 11
Description
Woodrow Wilson grants an officicial commutation of sentence to Richard E. Polen, convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in the District of Columbia.
Source
Gilder Lehrman Collection, New York Historical Society, New York
Text
WOODROW WILSON,
President of the United States of America,
Whereas Richard E. Polen was convicted in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia of assault with a dangerous weapon, and on December seventh, 1912, was sentenced to imprisonment for ten years in the State Penitentiary at Baltimore, Maryland; and, Whereas the judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the District, and the defendant began the service of his sentence November twenty-first, 1913; and,Whereas it has been made to appear to me that the said Richard E. Polen is a fit object of executive clemency:Now, therefore, be it known, that I, WOODROW WILSON , President of the United States of America, in consideration of the promises, divers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby commute the sentence of the said Richard E. Polen to imprisonment for one year and one day.In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the Department of Justice to be affixed.
Done in the District of Columbia this eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty, and of the Independence of the United States, the One Hundred and Forty-fourth.
By the President:
Attorney General.
President of the United States of America,
Whereas Richard E. Polen was convicted in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia of assault with a dangerous weapon, and on December seventh, 1912, was sentenced to imprisonment for ten years in the State Penitentiary at Baltimore, Maryland; and, Whereas the judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the District, and the defendant began the service of his sentence November twenty-first, 1913; and,Whereas it has been made to appear to me that the said Richard E. Polen is a fit object of executive clemency:Now, therefore, be it known, that I, WOODROW WILSON , President of the United States of America, in consideration of the promises, divers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby commute the sentence of the said Richard E. Polen to imprisonment for one year and one day.In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the Department of Justice to be affixed.
Done in the District of Columbia this eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty, and of the Independence of the United States, the One Hundred and Forty-fourth.
By the President:
Attorney General.
Original Format
Certificate
Files
Citation
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924, “Commutation of Sentence,” 1920 May 11, WWP15060, Gilder-Lehrman Institute for American History Woodrow Wilson Documents, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.