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Obama Ordered to Release Names of Clemency Seekers: "

Ruling in a privacy flap, a federal appeals court says the Obama administration must divulge the names of convicts seeking pardons or commutations of sentences.

The Obama administration urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule otherwise. The government said publicizing the applicants’ names would violate their privacy.

Obama issues a stay of execution for a turkey, before Thanksgiving 2009. He has yet to exercise clemency for a human.

Thursday’s ruling (.pdf) upholds a lower court decision in a case brought by former Washington Post reporter George Lardner Jr., who is writing a book on clemency, and sought the information under the Freedom of Information Act. A three-judge panel agreed with a lower court that ruled disclosure “shines a light” on “who is and who is not granted clemency by the president” (.pdf).

While the government releases the names of those granted clemency, Politico’s Josh Gerstein notes that President Barack Obama has not approved any clemency requests, “having denied 605 commutation applications and 71 pardon requests earlier this month.”

The court of appeals wrote that it rejected the Obama administration’s contention that releasing the names of unsuccessful clemency applicants would “create a stigma that could undermine the public interest in their rehabilitation.”

The appeals court added that the Justice Department had not asserted the information was protected by the executive-communications privilege. The appeals court also found that the government informs applicants that employers and neighbors may be contacted during clemency evaluations.

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