Although some of the nation’s inmates might be hoping for a presidential pardon this Christmas, the Attorney General has announced that there will be no pardons this year. Francisco Dominguez Brito told El Nuevo Diario that so far this December, Fray Aristedes Richardson, who heads the National Pardons Commission, has not submitted a list of potential pardon recipients. He did note that several inmates who were suffering from serious illnesses would probably be released, perhaps by a pardon or a transfer to house arrest. In the past, pardons have often been severely criticized when they involved people convicted of drug trafficking, corruption and even homicides. On more than one occasion the prisoners who were released went on to be arrested again for criminal activities.