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1,033 pardons and commutations, including for 12 convicted murderers

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  December 1st, 2009 at 10:02 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

As the dust is still settling on the Washington State police killings and the connection to Mike Huckabee, I’m reminded of this article by Ron Fournier written shortly before the Iowa Caucus. It got a lot of play in national media circles, but not in Iowa itself.

Back in 2008, a lot of people tried to paint Mike Huckabee as soft on crime. But, the guy is extremely likable and he makes sure you know he is a former preacher. So people tend to forgive him for his forgiving criminals their crimes.

Despite several attempts to drum up a Willie Horton for Huckabee in 2008, nothing happened. People glossed over the numbers.

With the Washington State police killings, people will probably pay attention in a different way now.

As Fournier noted at the time, while Mike Huckabee was Governor of Arkansas, he granted “1,033 pardons and commutations, including for 12 convicted murderers.”

To quote a different preacher, those chickens are now coming home to roost in inconvenient ways.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://www.twitter.com/joejharvey joejharvey

    Hucakbee is a Baptist minister and forgiveness plays an important role but, I think this will turn out to be a huge dent in his chances at 2012. Joe Scarborough is right, it is a near impossibility to win a conservative primary when it is clear you haven’t been as tough on crime as would have been prudent. I guess there is always another side to the story. Unfortunately sometimes one side says all that needs to be said.

    4 dead police officers in Washington state and 1,033 pardons/commutations (including 12 convicted murderers)

    Even if a run in 2012 doesn’t pan out, Huckabee will probably stay on FNC….I guess it’s a consolation prize.

  • momac

    He was always terrible. He was never actually conservative in terms of pro-freedom.. Economically he was clueless. And he pointed out that we are just as likely as the left to fall for a smooth talker that isn’t what he claims.

    I can only hope that this keeps him out of any office whatsoever, but I could see this guy doing some tearful interviews and reinventing himself as Mr. Iron Justice. The worst part will be people buying it.

  • tankertodd

    I thought that was the big takeaway for me. You guys need to toot your own horns more if you want strong readership!

    And Huckabee’s done. He’s toast. Good riddins. I don’t want a theocracy but I want a near-sadist when it comes to crime. Turn the cheek on your own dime, Huckster. Bring me nooses and concertina-ringed tent cities.

  • http://ruminationsaspirations.blogspot.com jonbingham

    Huckabee is irreparably damaged by the commutations. Yet he still faces a decision about his 2012 presidential aspirations.
    If he chooses to run, he places his ego ahead of what is best for the conservative movement. He will be splitting the social conservative vote to the harm of the party.
    If he has some humility about him, he will recognize that he will not be able to effectively pursue the role of President. For the benefit of the social conservative cause, he will stay out to enable another candidate with social conservative credentials to rise from the pack.
    Will he choose his pride or how the country will be best served?

  • Anteater

    I now highly doubt that this will make a dent in Huck’s long-term prospects (anymore than it did in 2008).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1jfMFSfuC4&feature=player_embedded

    Republicans will listen to both sides of the story before making a decision.

  • aesthete

    it will only serve to prove that we deserve the moniker, “the Stupid Party”, as well as several others which I won’t mention on a family website.

  • davidhucksarmy

    FACT: Prosecutors lodged no objection to Huckabee?s sentence reduction for Clemmons

    http://race42008.com/2009/12/01/prosecutors-lodged-no-objection-to-huckabees-sentence-reduction-for-clemmons/

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth
  • The_Gadfly

    Both of them did pretty well. I’d like to see O’Reilly follow up on Huckabee’s claim that prosecutors didn’t object to the commutation at the time. That seemed weak to me, as I had already seen the postings here that said the prosecutors had vigorously objected as well as that he was already showing clearly defined patterns of violent behavior in prison. I follow that on the face of it the sentence was way outside the normal range for the crimes for which Clemmons was convicted, and that made for a primae facie case that the sentence should be reduced to conform to the standards. Given that Huckabee said he hadn’t really heard from the prosecutor, I don’t see why he went forward with the commutation. That said I don’t fault him for the dead police officers per se. The one true thing Huckabee said is that there were multiple failures of the justice system that led to the shootings, especially the two moronic judges who granted Clemmons bail in Washington. I do fault him for not being cognizant of the reality that those failures are programmed into our current “justice” system. And if it were a single mistake, I might be willing to make an allowance. But it isn’t. I get that governors have to review a lot of these. The reality is, you can’t be doing a thorough review when you process as many of these as Huckabee did. So I actually didn’t believe Huckabee when he said he did a thorough review before granting clemency.

    Of course Erick summed up my ramblings far more succinctly: How many Willie Hortons can one man have?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    We know you’re a one-trick pony who will give anything Huck says a solid B+.

  • crosley

    There’s an incredible amount of ego involved when you had out over a thousand pardons and commutations. Did Huckabee really know more than the jury that convicted these men, or the prosecutors that brought charges? I could understand a handful of these, but Huckabee was being absolutely reckless, and he now has blood on his hands as far as I’m concerned.

    As a side note, if Republicans had a crowded and fractured primary that somehow gave the Presidential nomination to Huckabee, it would have been a landslide against us, and it would have repercussions for our “brand” for years. His brand of conservatism, a blend of fiscal liberalism, dovish foreign policy, and over the top, Pat Robertson-type social conservatism would relegate the Republican Party to a regional, minority party that at best could only win in the Deep South.

  • RebelRoss0587

    That is why this is such a big deal. People need to look up Wayne Dumond so see that this isn’t the first time Huckabee’s poor judgment has resulted in the needless death of others.

  • JadedByPolitics

    so unforgiving in this instance because Huckabee has a BAD record when it comes to those he has taken pity on. I get the guy was 16 and I get 100+ years without a weapon is a severe however it appears that those who sentenced him SAW with their own eyes and HEARD with their own ears that he was an ANIMAL and so they CAGED him for the rest of his natural life.

    I hold Huckabee responsible but there are MANY MORE who need to be looked at such as the prosecutor who did not put him back after he violated his parole and let us find out who this judge was that put him gave him a bail he could pay after molesting a child an punching an officer. The guy had a potential 7 felonies facing him and he WALKED? whomever that judge is needs to be taken off of the bench immediately as he is a danger to society!

  • http://random-jumbled-thoughts.blogspot.com tenebrous

    DavidHuck’sArmy is correct. The prosecutor didn’t object at the time. Also, at the time, the kid was 16 and had already spent 11 years in jail for the following crimes: burglary (when no-one was home), and robbery (when no-one had a gun). 11 years seems about right to me.

    As far as him being an “animal”, how are you going to get to that point when there was no violence done in either case? I mean, that’s some serious, serious extrapolation AND hindsight going on there.

    Huck commuted his sentence at the UNANIMOUS recommendation of the parole board. He applied for parole and was granted it. Later, he was rejailed for some crime I don’t recall.

    It was really his time in Washington state where he went off the deep end, folks. There he was arrested for child molestation and then let go, and then he murdered four cops. So of course there were failures in the criminal justice system, but the failures are THERE — in the actions of the prosector, the police, and so forth, NOT in Huck’s action in this case.

    And hey, one more thing — arguing from a lack of evidence really makes us conservatives look stupid. He commuted the sentences of X people; he paroled X number of people. Unless you have cold, hard, facts that show that these people should not have been let go based on the evidence available at the time, then you’re just arguing for guilt based on your feelings.

    If you dislike Huck because of his position on illegals (or don’t trust him even after he signed the pledge), that’s at least understandable. If you didn’t like his Cuba position, fine. If you’re going to object based on some number of pardon/commutations (should he have commuted the sentences of only 500 people, or maybe 600, or maybe 10? What’s the magic number?) with NO evidence of the harm, what is that but liberal emotionalism?

    That’s just par for the course here — argue by implication, not from facts. And oh, that bit about being respectful? I love the way y’all treat DavidHuck’sArmy — so respectful. Gah. Pass the RS Kool-Aid, please.

  • JoeG

    Go away

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you think we’re like a criminal, suicidal cult, you won’t mind your account being disabled.

  • mbecker908

    1. In 10 years Huckabee pardoned at a rate of about one felon per three days. I know something about the process and you’ll never convince me that that is enough time to properly vet each case.

    2. Specifically, with respect to Clemmons, during his first trial he attacked detention officers and threatened a judge.

    3. With respect to other actions he took as governor, his tax hikes and budget increases far outstripped the cost of living plus population change.

    4. After ten years as governor, he had done nothing to move the Republican party beyond a bare skeleton.

    5. During the primary campaign he lied about his role in the fuel tax increases at every opportunity despite clear documentation of his administration’s authorship of the increases.

    6. He stole the furniture out of the governor’s mansion when he left office. He gave it back when he was forced to by bad publicity.

    7. His “wedding registry” was nothing more than a gift scheme for his supporters to funnel money to him as he left office.

    8. He openly supported amnesty and worked actively with the government of Mexico to hand out consular cards to illegals.

    9. He’s been trying to position himself as conservative on issues since he left office. Nothing he did while in office would indicate that he is any kind of conservative.

    10. He disingenuously campaigned in favor of a “Human Life Amendment” even though there is absolutely no practical way to pass it at this time and he refused to define which version of the HLA he supports. There are seven and five of them do nothing more than move the decision on abortion law from the federal government to the states. Bottom line in that case, almost no change would accrue.

    Mike Huckabee is the least qualified and least conservative candidate we could possible entertain.

    And, as far as being respectful, Huckabee comes in here when it suits his purpose and is nothing more than a troll. That goes double for David and for Anteater, and for you as well. You people wouldn’t know a fact if it hit you on the head.

    You can all follow JoeG’s advice. You have nothing to offer here.

  • Richard Mullins

    So he can’t see any of it, becker. Oh well, we lost another one for daily whack-a-mole sessions. That’s what we do best with Trolls and Mobys.

  • mbecker908

    I just typed more so Neil got there first. Darn it.

  • Richard Mullins

    But of course when a latest whack-a-mole contestant…err Troll/Moby comes gets BLAMED we get upset. Really upset, but we can deal with it.

  • JoeG

    Even if it is, one can delete cookies and refresh the IP and now you’re just one of the many unregistered visitors.

  • JoeG

    The faithful are clueless. I fail to understand why they can’t see that this whole case is political death for Huckabee.

    Let me spell it out.

    Huckabee

    Is

    Done

    Those of us that recognize this aren’t the ones out of touch.

  • Richard Mullins

    Yeah, they might pass it on to the handlers but the real pain we can do is eliminated from us.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens