Vermont governor candidate wants to host a ‘pardon TV show’ for prisoners

Cris Ericson is running to be Vermont’s next governor — and if elected, the Independent candidate has big plans for Saturday night television.

Ericson, who lives in Chester, Vermont, said in a candidate commentary posted by PBS that the state should launch a “governor’s pardon TV show” to release prisoners who “violate the new unconstitutional anti-gun laws, and some of the non-violent offenders of other laws.”

Vermonters who aren’t prisoners would get to participate in the weekly episodes, too, Ericson explained.

“We will have a full audience in the auditorium in the governor’s office building in Montpelier, and invite 100 Vermonters each week to boo or cheer,” Ericson said.

Family and friends of the incarcerated would get to plead their cases before the audience.

“Then the audience will get to vote on whether I should grant a pardon, as governor, with the legal authority to grant pardons,” Ericson said.

PBS posted the short video on Vimeo two weeks ago, and it was first reported on by Seven Days on Tuesday.

The goal of the reality show? “To save Vermonters money,” Ericson said.

In fact, the show could make money, according to Ericson.

“We will sell the show worldwide on cable TV and make a fortune, which will be deposited in the general fund,” Ericson said.

Ericson is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Vermont as well, on a platform of easing Vermonters’ tax burdens and making sure their tax dollars get a good return on investment, WAMC reports.

Ericson ran for governor in 2014, too.

A Vermont Public Radio and PBS poll in October showed Ericson polling at just 1 percent, with 42 percent saying they would vote to re-elect Republican Gov. Phil Scott and 28 percent backing Democratic candidate Christine Hallquist.