Pardon politics
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Daily Herald editorial…
If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably scratching your head over the bizarre pardon spree Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour appears to have gone on during the final day of his political career.
Sitting where we do in Chicago’s suburbs, we recognize we’re too far away from Mississippi to understand everything that took place there or inside Barbour’s head, but at first blush, it appears to be a case of a governor pardoning 200 felons — including many murderers — almost whimsically.
In doing so, he may have violated a requirement Mississippi has for a 30-day public notice in advance of the pardons, and if that’s the case, as the state’s attorney general maintains, some of the pardons may be rescinded.
If the same thing were to happen in Illinois — and it’s more than possible that someday it could — the state would have no similar remedy, simply because the state has no similar restriction.
* From the Illinois Constitution…
The Governor may grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses on such terms as
he thinks proper. The manner of applying therefore may be regulated by law.
* State law gives the Prisoner Review Board the power to review and recommend executive clemency decisions, but the governor has broad powers to decide whom to pardon.
There was, of course, a huge uproar in Illinois when George Ryan commuted the sentences of all prisoners on death row. But what Barbour did has dwarfed that because, unlike Ryan, he didn’t seem to follow any set logic…
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour defended his controversial pardons Wednesday, saying that although he understands the feelings of “vengeance” from the families of victims, those he released “deserve a second chance.”
Barbour granted nearly 200 pardons, including those to a handful of murderers, in his final days as governor.
“I understand, recognize and respect the fact that if you were injured by somebody, or if your loved one was killed, that there may be vengeance, there may be fear, there may be all these things,” said Barbour on CBS’s “This Morning.”
“A lot of guys aren’t going to be rehabilitated. These have been. They’ve redeemed themselves. They deserve a second chance,” he added.
According to CBS, eight of the men Barbour pardoned were convicted of killing their wives or girlfriends. And this isn’t the first time he did that…
Four years ago, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was criticized for pardoning six men who had been convicted of killing their wives or girlfriends. And now, he’s done it again.
* Reaction has not been kind, or gentle…
News of the pardons immediately sparked a revival of two lingering House bills in Jackson. One would bar those convicted of capital murder from working in the Governor’s Mansion, and the other would mandate public hearings before a felony offender could be pardoned by the governor, so that victims could have a say in the decision.
“It’s created a buzz in Mississippi, and not a positive one for Haley as he goes out,” says Professor Wilkie, who has counted Barbour as a friend since the sixth grade. “There’s a particularly good editorial cartoon in The Clarion-Ledger this morning that shows Haley in an airplane departing for Washington, flying over the state capitol and dumping these pardons and clemencies like so many bird droppings on the capitol.”
* And some of the pardons have been blocked…
A Mississippi judge Wednesday evening issued a temporary injunction forbidding the release of any more prisoners pardoned or given clemency by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour, whose actions created an uproar.
The pardons include four convicted murderers and a convicted armed robber who were released Sunday. The five now must contact prison officials on a daily basis as their fate is adjudicated.
The pardons are “a slap in the face to everyone in law enforcement and Gov. Barbour should be ashamed,” said state Attorney General Jim Hood.
The process of releasing 21 other inmates has been halted, said Hood, who sought the court order.
* But…
“The pardons were intended to allow them to find gainful employment or acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote. My decision about clemency was based upon the recommendation of the Parole Board in more than 90 percent of the cases,” Barbour wrote. “The 26 people released from custody due to clemency is just slightly more than one-tenth of 1 percent of those incarcerated.”
What are your thoughts on this?
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 10:45 am:
The executive power of Pardons is a vestige of the English monarchy, and unless Mississippi’s Constitution is markedly different from ours and other states, it’s solely at the Governor’s discretion.
Gov. Barbour seems to have done his due diligence.
And unless someone can show that these pardons were somehow politically motivated (like, they gave money to his campaign), I don’t have a problem with Barbour’s actions.
There is a long history of forgiveness, redemption, and restorative justice in the Judeo-Christian faith.
Barbour’s actions are pretty consistent with that.
- MrJM - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 10:59 am:
Pardon’s have always been politically tricky:
Matthew 27:21-23
– MrJM
- phocion - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:04 am:
But MrJM, if Pilate had fully exercised his pardon powers, Christianity would never have existed.
As the Gospels tell us, the power of pardon is not popular with the mob. Yet it is given freely to chief executives with little or no restriction. Barbour appears to be given a bit of a bad rap on this, if one looks into the details. Sometimes we cede authority to those with the wisdom to make difficult difficult decisions for us. Let it be.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:08 am:
Barbour’s reasoning seems to be some Mississippi style plantation politics.
–Barbour told The Associated Press in 2008 that it was customary for Mississippi governors to cut short the sentences of inmates who served at the mansion, a tradition that dates back generations. At the time, he faced similar backlash for releasing trusty Michael David Graham, who served 19 years of his life sentence for killing his ex-wife. Graham walked free after working eight years in the governor’s mansion.–
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/pardon-me-is-southern-custom-behind-haley-barbours-clemencies/
- Scott Summers - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:23 am:
“Binge pardons” are nothing new. Recall that on his last day in office (January 20, 2001), Bill Clinton pardoned 140 and commuted the sentences of another 36. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/18/opinion/my-reasons-for-the-pardons.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Nor are “political pardons” unknown. On Christmas Eve, 1994, George H. W. Bush pardoned six for their roles in Iran-Contra. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/19/news/19iht-contra.html
And of course Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. (At the time, I was furious. I think now that Ford was smart to cut off what could have become a wholesale assault on executive powers.)
In short — binge pardoning and political pardoning surely will reoccur.
Pardoning powers should not reside solely with chief executives. I suggest that constitutions (both federal and state) be amended to provide an “advise and consent” sort of function, whereby senatorial concurrence is required.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:24 am:
Hood is running for governor, so his actions to block the pardons may be more politically motivated than Barbour’s in granting them.
- Irish - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:25 am:
I don’t know that I know enough about the true facts to draw an opinion. Barbour initially said that most of the convicts he pardoned were already out and not incarcerated. This would lead one to believe that these were people on parole, or house arrest, etc. Then the MS news media said that the paroled convicts left prison and might have to go back if the pardons were overturned. So if they were already out why do they have to go back. If their pardons were reversed they would go to where they were, which was out.
Then he stated that four convicts who were murderers worked at the Governor’s mansion and it was traditional to pardon those who worked at the mansion. Why would you pick murderers to work at the mansion? When Illinois had the work farm at Pontiac, I don’t know if they still do, I used to deliver bread to the work farm for the prison. The prisoners at the work farm as far as I remember were in for lesser charges and had earned the right to be out of the main building. Weren’t there any prisoners in for lesser offenses that could have worked at the mansion? Why would you go to the top of the offender list to look for folks to work at the mansion? Was there some connection between the Governor and those prisoners families that wiould make him choose them? Too many unknowns to draw a educated conclusion.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:25 am:
===whereby senatorial concurrence is required. ===
I would wager that almost nobody would ever get pardoned if that happened.
- Wensicia - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 11:31 am:
“I understand, recognize and respect the fact that if you were injured by somebody, or if your loved one was killed, that there may be vengeance, there may be fear, there may be all these things,”
That’s not the point, besides insulting relatives and friends of victims. The point is paying a debt to society, delivering justice. I’m very disturbed the seriousness of the crimes means so little to this governor.
- Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 12:08 pm:
~if Pilate had fully exercised his pardon powers, Christianity would never have existed. ~
I suppose I should just keep my thoughts to myself.
Anyway, I wonder how many people Hood would/will pardon if/when he gets the chance.
- girlawyer - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 12:19 pm:
I think you’re being a little too “forgiving” of ex-Gov. Ryan. He promised to look at all death penalty cases individually, even held sham hearings. Then he did exactly what he said he would not: gave across the board clemency to every person on death row. That included some who had been recently convicted pursuant to all the new rules and protections. Not sure what the logic was in that.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 12:25 pm:
Well, on the bright side, I guess we don’t have to worry about Barbour being the VP nominee.
- BigDoggie - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 1:04 pm:
Executive pardons should probably be eliminated universally. Trusting an outgoing politician to do the honorable thing is like dumping a pile of fresh cooked steak on the floor and telling my dog not to eat it as I leave the house.
- Kerfuffle - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 1:44 pm:
Sometimes pardons are just and fair and the only means or redressing a perceived wrong. There are always going to be abuses but if you do away with the power you sacrifice the good works that can be done by the process for the relative few cases of bad judgment. The key is not to elect bone-heads to the office of governor.
- Leslie - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 2:28 pm:
Hey, this was hardly a crazy spree. Barbour is comfortable with his releases because, unlike the rest of politicians, he has some firsthand knowledge of prison inmates and isn’t scared to give them a second chance (particularly murderers who are unlikely to reoffend). He and his brother were raised in close association with inmate Leon
Turner:
“…The governor paused to gain his composure before he discussed Leon Turner, an inmate he grew to love. Barbour was 10 years old when his father died. His grandfather, who raised the Barbour boys, developed a neurological disease that cost him the use of his legs.
Because Barbour’s grandfather was a Circuit Court judge, Gov. Paul B. Johnson had an inmate, Turner, dispatched to help the family.
“When my older brothers and I were growing up, and our cousins, like federal Judge William Barbour, Leon took care of us,” Barbour said. “He helped raise us. He was our playmate, our friend.
“My grandmother built him a house for his old age, and his wife’s old age. I watched the power of a second chance and what it did for Leon Turner…”
Barbour did not release everyone. He did not release some who petitioned him because he did not feel they were remorseful. But he went with his conviction on the rest and isn’t apologizing for that which is courageous.
- wishbone - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 3:32 pm:
One of the reasons I support doing away with the death penalty is the hope that murderers will receive life without the opportunity for parole. Pardons for murderers undercut that belief and weaken the argument for banning the death penalty.
- trummy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 5:30 pm:
Anyone seeking a pardon in Illinois, as part of their petition for clemency, must notify the court and state’s attorney in each county
where their crime(s) occurred. Victims, prosecutors and judges
may offer testimony on the petition prior to the parole board’s
recommendation to the governor.
- bartelby - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 6:27 pm:
When the justice system won’t release prisoners who after decades in prison, have changed and become new people — then the Governor should step in and issue pardons. This should happen in Illinois. The Illinois constitution (Article 1, sec, 11) calls for a system of correction that has the objective of “restoring the offender to useful citizenship.” If a prisoner has been restored, he should be released. That’s the law in Illinois, and by keeping reformed men in prison for decades, we have been violating the law! I never thought I’d be praising a Mississippi governor, but I have to give credit where it is due.
- Bigtwich - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 6:27 pm:
Pardons are not part of the justice system. They are an act of mercy. I will not criticize someone for extending mercy. I may need it myself sometime.
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 9:43 pm:
{Well, on the bright side, I guess we don’t have to worry about Barbour being the VP nominee.}
True sardonic genius should not go unrecognized.
- steve schnorf - Wednesday, Jan 18, 12 @ 10:56 pm:
He was the Governor, he made the decisions, I can live with that. I’m not particularly a Barbour fan, but I see no great offense here.