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A pardon or any act of executive clemency is a matter of grace given to the president or governor through constitutional authority.

Executive clemency can be granted or denied for a specific reason or for no reason at all. Due process of law does not attach to executive clemency decisions because a pardon or commutation of sentence is a privilege, not a right.

It is within these board parameters that Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt yesterday commuted Julius Jones’ death sentence to life without parole. The governor’s decision came after growing national and international concern about Jones’ execution because of credible evidence that he may be innocent of the crime for which he stands convicted.

Gov. Stitt’s decision, however, was not influenced by Jones’ possible innocence. The governor conditioned his commutation that Jones would never be eligible for parole release. Worse yet, the governor’s commutation also carried the condition that Jones can never apply for another commutation.

In effect, the governor made his executive intent clear: Jones will remain in prison until he dies, unless some state or federal court grants him a new trial.

That is not mercy, folks.

It is torture in the worse degree. Jones commutation is not a cause for celebration. It is a decision that should be understood for exactly what it is: the sparing of death by lethal injection in exchange for an imprisoned sentence that will ultimately result in death in some prison cell or infirmary. The present cause for celebration will pass and the agony of doing time without hope will consume Jones and his family.

One of Jones’s longtime supporters, Oklahoma State Sen. George Young (D), understands this reality.

“I was expecting this, and it’s still hard to digest,” Young said upon learning about Gov. Stitt’s commutation. “He waits to the last minute to not kill him, but assign him to a fate that is in some ways worse than death and [the governor] claims the high ground.”

I understand executive clemency through personal experience.

In 1990 the Louisiana Board of Pardons recommended to then Gov. Buddy Roemer that my life without parole sentence be commuted to 75 years.

In 1992, in his last official work day as governor, Roemer commuted my life sentence but increased the recommended 75 years to 90 years—a power the governor enjoyed.

The Louisiana Department Corrections ruled that I was not eligible for parole under Gov. Roemer commutation order. A two-year legal battle ensued concluding with Roemer appearing in court—something no other Louisiana governor had ever done—telling both the court and the DOC that it was his executive intent that I be immediately eligible for parole upon his signing the commutation.

Forced to give me a parole hearing, and none too pleased about the matter, the DOC through the parole board made me serve another 12 years and undergo seven parole hearings before I was granted parole in 2006.

Charles “Buddy” Roemer was not only an excellent, honest governor (a rarity in Louisiana) but he was a brilliant, compassionate human being as well. Roemer passed away earlier this year. There has not a time in my life since 1992 that I did not thank and appreciate Gov. Roemer for the political courage it took commute my life sentence.

Julius Jones will never be able to feel that for Gov. Kevin Stitt. The governor made it clear he wants Jones to die in the Oklahoma prison system, regardless of whether he is innocent or not.

Those who say Jones should be happy because he is no longer on death row know nothing about prison and what life without hope means.