Kay Ivey this week was one execution away from setting a record among Alabama governors in the modern era of the death penalty. But instead she chose to spare a man’s life, setting an entirely different record in the state.
“I think she’s carving out a place in the history of Alabama governors that is unparalleled,” former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman told AL.com.
There are only three known instances of a governor granting clemency to someone on death row in Alabama. Ivey, a Republican, is now responsible for two of them, as she commuted the death sentence of Charles Lee “Sonny” Burton earlier this week…