Mississippi pardons

[George Jung]

I've caught only snatches of this story, but as I understand it, the Governor of Mississipi (R), ? retiring?, pardoned a bunch of convicted murders just before leaving office; many/most were politically connected. Now, the 'authorities' are trying to track a few of them down, as they've made themselves scarce. Not sure why they would do this; can a pardon be rescinded?

Anyone know the hows and whys of this?

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

The governor of Mississippi is HALEY BARBER (sic). Besides being a governor he is also one of the biggest Republican lobbyists on K Street. He access to money helps fund many Republican members of congress. He is concidered a go-to guy if you want things done. When questioned about the pardons he didn't have any qualms. He was term limited and wanted to go out with a bang, I guess. The number of pardons was said to be about 200 with about 10% being murderers.

[George Jung]

Why did he resign? Does he have a new, improved job in Washington as a lobbyist? Can the pardons be rescinded? Why are they trying to track down one of the pardoned murderers?

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Why did he resign? Does he have a new, improved job in Washington as a lobbyist? Can the pardons be rescinded? Why are they trying to track down one of the pardoned murderers?

HE didn't, I think it was two terms and out.
There ain't no one in Republican heaven bigger than Haley Barber.
I suspect they can't but they may be able to try those guys for other offences and get them back in the slammer.

[leikec]

Here's the proper spelling: Haley Barbour.

Jeff C

[Ian McColgin]

This was mooted earlier to no certain conclusion.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...ssippi+pardons

Worth another try.

[Ian McColgin]

Time adds to the story. Perhaps Barbour had a religious experience. This from WSJ:

U.S. NEWS JANUARY 14, 2012
Mississippi Pardons Draw Fire From All Sides
By TIMOTHY W. MARTIN

Presidents and governors often are castigated over clemency decisions, but rarely have such moves drawn as much, or as broadly based, criticism as Haley Barbour's decision to grant clemency to more than 200 people in Mississippi—including more than a dozen full pardons for convicted murderers.

The pardons and other forms of clemency granted by the two-term Republican governor in the days before he left office Tuesday have drawn fire from elected leaders of both major parties as well as victims-advocate groups in a state where Mr. Barbour's law-and-order reputation long helped fuel his popularity.

Among those pardoned were five men who had worked in the governor's mansion, in a program run by the state Department of Corrections to reward well-behaved prisoners.

"We depended on the law and the court systems to do their jobs. They did it. And one man undid it all," said Tonya Simpson Miller, 42 years old, of Lucedale, Miss. In 2003, Ms. Miller's father was killed by her stepmother, Patricia L. Simpson, who was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of probation. Ms. Simpson received a "conditional indefinite suspension of sentence."

Mr. Barbour defended his decisions Friday in a statement, emphasizing that nearly 190 of the people who got reprieves had already been released from prison. "I believe in second chances, and I try hard to be forgiving," Mr. Barbour said in the statement. "I'm very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons."

On Wednesday, a state judge blocked the release of the 21 pardoned inmates who are still in custody, including Ms. Simpson, after state Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, raised concerns that the inmates may not have followed rules laid out in the state constitution for requesting pardons.

On Jan. 6, Mr. Barbour granted full pardons to five current inmates—freeing them from prison, wiping clean their records and restoring all of the rights they lost as felons. On Tuesday, his last day in office, he pardoned 194 more people, including some current inmates, and issued a medical release or suspended sentence to 16 others.

Mr. Barbour's 60% approval rating in Mississippi was the highest among 42 governors, according to a Public Policy Poll last year. He won wide praise for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But the pardons are a head-scratcher in a state where many believe criminals should receive their full punishment, said Marty Wiseman, a professor of political science at Mississippi State University.

"Everyone is walking around with a big question mark over their heads: What is Barbour thinking? What is this all about?" said Mr. Wiseman.

Mr. Barbour's pardons stand out not only for their number, but because he was also the only governor to leave office around the first of the year.

"It's very different from what we're used to seeing with elected officials," said Michael Kaye, who teaches criminal law at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.

Pardons were written into the U.S. Constitution by the Founding Fathers as a corrective against overly harsh sentencing. They were a precursor to parole. "It's a formal recognition of what we all know: Courts are not perfect, judges are not perfect, and the legislative branch isn't perfect either. This is one executive branch check on the other two branches," said P.S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., who tracks pardons.

Who gets gubernatorial pardons, and why, varies from state to state, and it's not unusual in some states for hundreds of people a year to get pardons.

Not all governors have the power to issue a pardon. Six states, including Georgia and Utah, leave the decision up to a pardoning board. Four others have boards that include the governor as a member. An additional eight stipulate a governor cannot grant a pardon without a board recommendation.

Pardons were once common in most states, but governors have become more hesitant in recent years because—as Mr. Barbour learned this week—they can turn into a political headache, according to Margaret Colgate Love, a lawyer specializing in clemency who served as the U.S. pardon attorney under President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, both of whom were criticized for pardons they granted.

Other states have curbed clemency powers. Since 1995, Ohio has required its governor to seek board approval for sentence commutations, a reaction to a former governor's unpopular clemency decisions for inmates on death row. Pennsylvania also stiffened its board-approval requirements for commutations around the same time. Several states' parole boards were created after a governor issued controversial pardons.

Mississippi's recent governors had been stingy with pardons. Mr. Barbour's immediate predecessor, Ronnie Musgrove, issued one pardon. The previous three governors, spanning 26 years, gave just 17 pardons, according to a report from Mississippi's Secretary of State. Before his final week in office, Mr. Barbour had issued eight pardons.

The Mississippi attorney general's investigation focuses on whether Mr. Barbour's pardons complied with Section 124 of the state's constitution, requiring those applying for a pardon to make their requests public for 30 days.

In a statement, Mr. Hood vowed his office would move "expeditiously" with its investigation. "This is an absolute tragedy for the victims involved in each of these cases," said Mr. Hood in the statement. Mr. Hood wasn't made available for comment.

If the blocked inmates are found to have filed their requests in time, they will be granted their pardons, because the governor's clemency decisions in Mississippi cannot be appealed.

# # #

[skuthorp]

Ah yes, the 'Royal Prerogative' is alive and well in the Republic. Makes a mockery of the law, but then sometimes I think that it does that itself. I wonder, with so many controversial ones such as murderers, if they are being used to mask some that are political in nature and paying back debts.

[JimD]

This fine upstanding citizen certainly sounds like he deserved a pardon:

According to a transcript of Ozment's confession to police, Ozment admitted being part of a robbery so he could have "Christmas money." He entered the convenience store with a friend who shot the clerk, Montgomery, three times. Montgomery crawled from around the counter and Ozment looked at him and shot him twice."I didn't want him to identify me or the other guy, so I shot him twice. ... I shot him in the head," Ozment said in the police confession. Ozment said his share in the robbery was "between 50 and 60 dollars." http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/27/justic...ard/index.html

[Donn]

The State Supreme Court upheld all of Barbour's pardons.

Link

[Flying Orca]

That is utterly revolting.