en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman
1 correction found
Billings and Mooney both were pardoned in 1939.
This is inaccurate for Warren Billings. Thomas Mooney was pardoned in 1939, but Billings was released that year after a commutation and was not officially pardoned until 1961.
Full reasoning
The sentence treats Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings the same, but the historical record distinguishes their cases.
- The National Registry of Exonerations says: "On January 7, 1939, California Governor Culbert L. Olson ... pardoned Mooney. In October of that year, he commuted Billings' sentence and released him, and on December 22, 1961, Governor Edmund G. Brown granted him an official pardon."
- An official California Assembly Journal entry for executive clemency likewise records that Warren K. Billings was released on October 19, 1939 and later received a pardon that was "Granted December 21, 1961."
So the article's claim is wrong as written: Mooney was pardoned in 1939, but Billings was only released in 1939 after a commutation; his pardon came in 1961.
2 sources
- Warren K. Billings | National Registry of Exonerations
On January 7, 1939, California Governor Culbert L. Olson ... pardoned Mooney. In October of that year, he commuted Billings' sentence and released him, and on December 22, 1961, Governor Edmund G. Brown granted him an official pardon.
- Assembly Journal, California Legislature (Feb. 5, 1962)
Granted December 21, 1961 WARREN K. BILLINGS ... After serving twenty-three years in prison he was released on October 19, 1939 ...