Opinion: How about pardoning at least 50 people in Minnesota by Juneteenth?

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Have you ever waited — day after day, week after week — for a piece of mail that could literally change your life?

This week, after an agonizing seven-month wait, I finally got a letter I’ve been anticipating every day since last fall.

Unfortunately, that letter didn’t deliver me from this limbo I’ve been in for years. Let me explain.

Nearly two decades since serving time and probationary sentences, I am an educator, organizer, nonprofit founder, community advocate, father, husband, mentor and friend to many.

For nearly 20 years, I have worked hard, rebuilt my life, poured my heart into community. But while my story is one of transformation — showing that redemption and rehabilitation are possible, even in a deeply flawed system — my old record still follows me. That’s why I’ve applied for a pardon.

I first applied in 2021, and came close to receiving one. Unfortunately, one member of the three-person Board of Pardons, an appointee of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, opposed my pardon. That was crushing.

So last fall, in October 2024, I applied again. Since 2021, I’ve done even more to (hopefully) show that I am a fully vested, contributing member of the community. A good citizen. I’ve continued demonstrating my commitment to being a positive, healing force in Minnesota. I’m proud of that work, and nothing can keep me from it.

Yet in May 2025, I am no closer to being truly free. For seven months I have waited to hear back from the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission about a pardon hearing. Seven slow, painful, anxiety-filled months. And this week’s letter just says to stay tuned — that it might take up to a year for my hearing to be scheduled.

Worse yet? The commission canceled its May hearing! I wasn’t even on that agenda, but a lot of other folks were. And I’m surely not the only applicant who’s been waiting since last year for any kind of meaningful update. There are many Minnesotans who have served their time and desperately want to be welcomed back into full civic life. We know the war on drugs has disproportionately impacted Black and brown folks; clemency is one way to begin rectifying that.

One of the hardest things about this process is the lack of transparency and clarity around these hearings. Especially since transparency is one of the stated reasons that the commission was formed. It has been unbelievably hard to get a handle on what’s happening — and I’m here to tell you, it’s taking a heavy toll on those of us whose lives are hanging in the balance.

Do we truly believe in second chances? I do. I’ve had the privilege of knowing many other formerly incarcerated people who are amazing examples of resilience and redemption. And I know what my life has been about for the past 20 years. But the Clemency Review Commission process has me wondering how many Minnesotans who’ve taken accountability and served their sentences really have a fair shot at a pardon. Even after doing everything “right.”

I’m imploring commission members to act with more care and urgency, knowing this limbo is hell for every one of us stuck in it. And I am calling on the commission to pardon at least 50 of us by Juneteenth. Show us, our families, our communities that just outcomes are possible. Show that Minnesota believes in second chances.

Jason Sole, of St. Paul, is an educator.