Clemency was a political third rail for decades. Healey and other governors are starting to embrace it.
Governor Maura Healey’s move to pardon 13 people is positioning Massachusetts among a growing number of states where chief executives are again embracing clemency.
It was absolutely demoralizing, said Booth, 63. So in the fall of 2022 she turned to what has been, at best, a Hail Mary optionin Massachusetts for decades: She sought a gubernatorial pardon.
But su…