I Beg Your Pardon part 5

About this episode

This episode explores the personal story of a woman navigating the Illinois clemency system after spending 23 years in prison for a crime she claims she didn't know she was committing.

My cousin spent 23 years in an Illinois prison for a crime she says she didn't know she was committing. She was 33 when a judge handed down a 60-year sentence. She would have been 93 before she saw the outside again. This episode is personal. In "Only God Pardons," we follow my cousin Iris (not her real name) through the Illinois clemency system: what it takes to apply, what the odds actually look like, and what it means to finally get out, only to discover that freedom comes with its own kind of sentence. Along the way, we hear from Margaret Byrne, a Chicago attorney who has spent 45 years fighting for people inside Illinois prisons who shouldn't be there, including the women she represented through the Illinois Clemency Project for Battered Women. And we talk to Jeff Grant, attorney, minister, and co-founder of the White Collar Support Group, who argues that the pardon system doesn't go nearly far enough and who is pushing Congress to add federal expungement as a tool alongside clemency. We also look at what's happening at the federal level, where a booming paid-pardon industry has taken root around the White House. According to federal lobbying disclosures, clients paid firms…

People in this episode

Guests: Iris, Margaret Byrne, Jeff Grant

Topics covered

• clemency
• prison reform
• pardon system
• true crime
• personal narrative
• legal advocacy

Keywords

• clemency
• Illinois prison
• pardon system
• Margaret Byrne
• Jeff Grant
• Rod Blagojevich
• criminal justice
• freedom
• expungement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Illinois Clemency Project for Battered Women, White Collar Support Group, Biden administration, Trump

Places: Illinois, Chicago

More episodes of PRETEND

• Chain of Command part 5 · June 9, 2026 · 30 min
• The Lottery Curse with Murder: True Crime Stories · June 5, 2026 · 5 min
• Chain of Command part 4 · June 2, 2026 · 43 min
• Chain of Command part 3 · May 26, 2026 · 34 min
• Chain of Command part 2 · May 19, 2026 · 32 min
• The Raid | From Deep Cover: The Family Man · May 18, 2026 · 40 min