Commutation = Still a convicted felon and all that entails but sentence is shortened.
Pardon - as if the conviction never happened. All rights and privileges of full citizenship are restored.
Weren’t there still appeals going on that would result in a total vindication? I thought some argument was put forward that they would be better off with a commutation, that a pardon could clear their record but not give real vindication that an winning an appeal would.
If I were either of them, I’d just want it over with! Few of us can even begin to imagine the nightmare these men and their families have gone through.