Outraged by the perceived miscarraige of justice displayed in the documentary, fans started petitions at Change.org and The White House's official page to secure a presidential pardon for Avery. Collectively, the petitions gathered nearly 500,000 signatures. A representative from The White House posted an official response on Jan. 8, stating that Avery is invalid for getting a presidential pardon. "This clemency authority empowers the President to exercise leniency towards persons who have committed federal crimes . . . Since Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are both state prisoners, the President cannot pardon them. A pardon in this case would need to be issued at the state level by the appropriate authorities."
