The Angolite, a news magazine produced by inmates at Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary, highlights the commutation of Herbert Welcome, a man with mental retardation whose death sentence was lifted by Governor Mike Foster in 2003. The article follows Welcome’s decades-long struggle to have his sentence commuted, including a 1988 recommendation for clemency that was never signed. Years later, Welcome’s clemency effort was reignited by his attorneys from the Center for Equal Justice in New Orleans and his spiritual advisor, legendary rock guitarist Larry Howard. It gained ground after the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Atkins v. Virginia making it unconstitutional to execute those with mental retardation. In all, Welcome spent 21 years on death row before the Louisiana Pardons Board unanimously voted to recommend clemency during a hearing ordered by Governor Foster. The Angolite article includes an overview of the clemency hearing statements delivered by experts such as Robert Perske, as well as a case overview by Welome’s attorney, Nick Trenticosta. (The Angolite, May/June 2003) See Mental Retardation. See also, Resources.