evidence: Pardons are mostly carefully vetted, with governors and their legal staffs seeking to ensure that the recipients are worthy and unlikely to reoffend and cause political embarrassment. But contemporary governors have become more active in issuing pardons than governors in past decades. [...] Tony Evers is now the all-time champ among Wisconsin governors, having issued well over 1,000 pardons. "Since re-establishing the pardon process during my first term in office, it’s been a privilege to hear about the lives, hard work and contributions of so many to overcome their past mistakes, seek redemption and forgiveness, and give back to their communities," Evers said last year. "Hearing about these individuals’ stories and their efforts to make amends has been extraordinary." Issuing pardons is a tricky business for governors. There’s always the danger that someone whose crime you’ve forgiven will commit another horrible act, with the media and the public blaming you. Oklahoma GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has been an active pardoner as part of his overall criminal justice reform program, was confronted with an ad during the 2022 campaign blaming him for an alleged killer’s early release. But pardons are also a responsibility that’s been central to the office since the nation’s founding. "To me, it was part of the job description," says Robert Ehrlich, a former Republican governor of Maryland.