For the first time since taking office, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has granted executive clemency to an inmate.
Reeves announced Wednesday that he’s signed an executive order freeing Marcus Taylor, who the Republican said, “was illegally sentenced to 15 years in prison.”
Taylor, now 43, accepted a plea deal in February 2015 after being charged with conspiracy to sell a schedule III substance and was sentenced by a Choctaw County trial judge to 15 years based on recommendations made by the state. The Mississippi Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in May that the maximum sentence for Taylor’s crime, under state law, is five years.
“Today, for the first time since taking office in 2020, I have exercised my Constitutional authority to grant executive clemency by commuting the sentence imposed on Marcus Taylor – a sentence that was three times longer than permitted under Mississippi law,” Reeves stated in a press release.
“It is undisputed, as recently confirmed by all 10 members of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, that such a sentence for the offense committed plainly is illegal,” he continued. “Taylor has served more than 10 years of his sentence, and further service of this sentence in excess of the five-year statutory maximum constitutes a mischarge of justice.”
Based on the order signed by Reeves, the Mississippi Department of Corrections is required to release Taylor by Dec. 15.
Reeves added in the release that his decision is “about justice, not mercy” and that Taylor deserved to walk free half a decade ago.
“Mr. Taylor has served the entire five-year sentence for the crime to which he pled guilty,” he concluded. “Respect for the rule of law and protecting every Mississippian’s right to individual liberty and self-determination are the bedrock principles upon which our Constitutional Republic and state were founded. If justice is denied to one Mississippian, it is denied to us all.”