Kay Ivey 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. 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. Nationwide, clemency is “extreme­ly rare,” according to the Death Penalty Information Center, with less than 1% of people on death row having their sentences commuted. Meanwhile, the use of the death penalty in states where it’s legal has “risen sharply” - 2025 had more executions than any year since 2009. #alabama #deathpenalty #politics