![What do clemency and commuted mean? Meaning behind pardons explained - and the difference between them What do clemency and commuted mean? Meaning behind pardons explained - and the difference between them](https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/PRI_179705738-1.jpg?resize=640,360&strip=all&quality=90)
What do clemency and commuted mean? Meaning behind pardons explained - and the difference between them
![Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism | Prison Policy Initiative Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism | Prison Policy Initiative](https://static.prisonpolicy.org/images/clemency_types535x300.png)
Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism | Prison Policy Initiative
If a president loses an election, can they still pardon a person or commute their prison sentence between November when they lose the election and January before the new president takes office? -
![President Obama Grants 153 Commutations and 78 Pardons to Individuals Deserving of a Second Chance | whitehouse.gov President Obama Grants 153 Commutations and 78 Pardons to Individuals Deserving of a Second Chance | whitehouse.gov](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/chart_121916_commutations.jpg)
President Obama Grants 153 Commutations and 78 Pardons to Individuals Deserving of a Second Chance | whitehouse.gov
![Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism | Prison Policy Initiative Executive inaction: States and the federal government fail to use commutations as a release mechanism | Prison Policy Initiative](https://static.prisonpolicy.org/images/ma_commutations_05to21.png)