Abbott Pardons Daniel Perry After Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Recommends Clemency

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has granted a full pardon to Daniel Perry, the Army sergeant convicted of murder in the 2020 shooting death of Air Force veteran and Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in Austin. The pardon follows a formal recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, the same state body responsible for overseeing the release and supervision of thousands of incarcerated Texans each year.

Perry was convicted by a Travis County jury in April 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Abbott had signaled his intention to seek a pardon almost immediately after the verdict was handed down, publicly expressing disagreement with the jury’s findings. The Board of Pardons and Paroles, responding to Abbott’s direction, ultimately provided the recommendation necessary under Texas law for the governor to act.

The case has drawn intense scrutiny from criminal justice advocates, legal experts, and families of incarcerated Texans who note the stark contrast between how executive clemency is applied in high-profile political cases versus the experiences of ordinary prisoners seeking relief. Texas has one of the largest incarcerated populations in the nation, and clemency requests from death row inmates and long-serving prisoners are routinely denied or left unaddressed for years.

Critics argue the Perry pardon exposes a two-tiered justice system in Texas — one where a governor’s political sympathies can override a jury’s verdict, while thousands of inmates with credible claims of innocence, excessive sentencing, or rehabilitation sit in TDCJ facilities with little hope of relief. The Board of Pardons and Paroles processes an enormous volume of cases annually, and advocates have long called for greater transparency and consistency in how clemency recommendations are made.

For families of Texas prisoners, the Perry case raises pointed questions about accountability and equal access to justice within a system that holds over 130,000 people behind bars. Whether this case will prompt broader scrutiny of the clemency process — and how it is applied across the full spectrum of incarcerated Texans — remains to be seen.