Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his list of annual pardons on Thursday—a holiday tradition, per The Dallas Morning News—and one name was noticeably absent: George Floyd. The state Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended Floyd be considered for clemency but it was rejected because the documentation “contained procedural errors and lack of compliance with Board rules,” a spokesman for Abbott said. To be tossed over a technicality “smacks of something untoward,” Allison Mathis, the Houston public defender who advocated for Floyd’s legacy, told the Morning News. “Greg Abbott and his political appointees have let their politics triumph over the right thing to do and what is clearly is justice. This is actually outrageous.” In 2004, Floyd pleaded guilty to selling $10 worth of crack during a Houston police sting operation. Prosecutors have scrutinized such operations, and other similar cases have since been dismissed.
