It's a tradition that ironically features an American president sanctioning an event sponsored by a lobbying group, which advocates the opposite of what actually takes place at said event.

Gov. Ralph Northam said pardoning the "Martinsville Seven" was the state's way of acknowledging that the men were executed without due process.

A national council of current and formerly incarcerated women wants the president to grant 100 women clemency by April 30. There's a backlog of 14,000 petitions for commutations or pardons.