The governor may, likewise, commute the punishment from death to imprisonment for life, upon the certificate of the supreme court, entered on the minutes of the court, that in its opinion, there were extenuating circumstances attending the case, and that the punishment ought to be commuted.
Code 1858, § 5259; Shan., § 7234; Code 1932, § 11840; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-3506.
Rule Reference. This section is referred to in Rule 12 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Law Reviews.
Adjudicating Claims of Innocence for the Capitally Condemned in Tennessee: Embracing a Truth Forum (Dwight Aarons), 76 Tenn. L. Rev. 511 (2009).
Survey of Tennessee Constitutional Law in 1976-77, VII. Reprieves, Pardons, and Commutations (Kenneth L. Penegar), 46 Tenn. L. Rev. 153.