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Larry Jasper is one of the success stories. In 2005 Jasper
was sentenced to up to four years in an Idaho prison for heroin
and methamphetamine possession charges. When released from
prison in 2008, Jasper had only a high school education. Over the
next ten years, he stayed clean and went back to school. In 2016
he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from George Fox
University in Newberg, Oregon. Today forty-nine-year-old Jasper
lives in Oregon, where he hopes to use his degree to help oth-
ers struggling with substance abuse problems. His felony drug
conviction was a barrier to achieving his goals, so Jasper applied
for a pardon. “My end goal, my hope is to become a licensed
psychologist in the state of Oregon. The probability of me attain-
ing my license with a felony record is very low,” Jasper wrote in
his application to Idaho’s Commission of Pardons and Parole. “I
am seeking a pardon in order to achieve my goal of becoming a
licensed professional and to permanently break the destructive
cycle of my past.” 6
In 2018 Idaho governor Butch Otter granted Jasper’s pardon.
While it does not erase his criminal record, it makes it easier for
Jasper to achieve his goals. “Mr. Jasper is an example of why a
pardon process exists in Idaho,” says Sandy Jones, the commis-
sion’s executive director. “He demonstrates how rehabilitation can
and should work. He has worked hard to change his life through
recovery and education, and the commissioners are pleased to
support his pardon.” 7
For many other drug offenders, the outcomes are not as
positive. According to a 2018 study conducted by the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, drug offenders were highly likely to reof-
fend. The study followed inmates from state prisons for nine
years, starting at their release in 2005. Researchers found that
the recidivism rate—the likelihood that someone who broke the
law once will do it again after being set free—for drug offenders
was 42.8 percent in the fi rst year after release. Over nine years,
83.8 percent of released drug offenders were arrested again for
another offense.

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