Kentucky: Posthumous Pardons for 44?

That's right. A group of people are trying to get posthumous pardons for 44 Kentuckians who were found guilty of assisting slaves who attempted to escape. See story here,

Becker on Ford's Pardon of Nixon

Last night, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library hosted a lecture by Benton Becker, a key advisor to the President on the pardon of Richard Nixon. More specifically, Becker was asked to research two questions 1) could a pardon be issued before any charges were filed? and 2) does the president have the right to issue a blanket pardon absolving a would-be defendant of whatever charges he may face? Becker filed a response here which gave Ford the "go" signal on both counts. Ford then sent him to Nixon's ranch in order to get Nixon to 1) sign over his presidential papers 2) accept the pardon in writing and 3) to convey to Nixon that acceptance of the pardon was an admission of guilt. See story here.

Rove on Libby, Bush and Pardons

Question: You write that you keep a clipping about Scooter Libby's case to remind yourself of the cost of what happened. We've read that President Bush and Vice President Cheney argued about whether or not there should be a pardon for Libby.

Mr. Rove: I don't know if I would say argued. I'm not sure I would depict it as an argument. I was not there, but there was a discussion.

Question: Did you have a position?

Mr. Rove: This is an intense personal decision by the chief executive. I do know this: Governor Bush was loath to substitute his judgment as a governor for that of the legal system. The pardon power, which for a governor of Texas like the pardon power of the president is unlimited power, frankly concerns him. It's in the constitutions, the state and the national constitutions, but as a result, he is reluctant to exercise it. What I thought was extraordinary about what President Bush did was having this beliefthat absent compelling evidence of a miscarriage of justice that he is loath to substitute his opinion for that of a judge and a jury, that he stepped into the Libby matter and said I'm going to commute the sentence and declare an end to this. It's over. I'm not going to substitute my judgment for that of a judge and a jury absent compelling evidence of a miscarriage of judgment, but I am going to say that the judicial system imposed too serious a penalty.

Question: Do you think he should have gone further and gone for the pardon?

Mr. Rove: I'm going to respect his decision because he was involved intimately in the details of the case and had access to things I didn't have access to. Again, I do think this case shows the difficulty of the criminal justice system being used to referee political disputes. We diminish the criminal justice system when we use it to referee political disputes and we unnecessarily penalize political actors when we do. It went on far too long, exacted too high a cost from everyone involved. And for what reason?

See the complete interview in Pittsburgh Post here.

Number of Days Till the First Pardon.

President Obama has gone 414 days without granting a single pardon or commutation of sentence. He will soon pass the ever-popular John Adams (Mr. Alien Sedition Acts), and move into 3rd place, among the very slowest in history. Indeed, this seems very likely, if Obama intends to wait until December to act. Then it is simply a matter of whether or not he will be more negligent than Bush or Clinton.

Washington, incidentally, hardly deserves the same level of disappointment. The colonists had had their fill of the King's abuse of the pardon power and the President, under the Articles of Confederation, could pardon no one. Neither the Virginia Plan nor the New Jersey Plan (at the Constitutional Convention) contained a pardon power. The first draft of the Constitution had no such power either, until a single delegate, working as a committee member, scribbled it into the margin. On top of all of that, of course, is the fact that there were relatively few federal laws to violate, and few criminals for Washington to pardon.

DOJ Data (1945-2009) in Chart Form

I have completed charts on pardons using Department of Justice data from 1945-2009 at the newly created PardonResearch.com (http://pardonresearch.com/doj.htm).These charts once appeared here, in the right column, but readers will find the latest versions are much higher quality and easier to use/manipulate because they are presented in three different forms (.html .pptx and .docx).

Louisiana: Automatic Pardon Not Enough of Pardon

Ernal Broussard had some nerve challenging Francis Touchet, Jr. for a position on the Abbeville City Council. So, Touchet pointed out what any opponent might have pointed out: that Broussard was a convicted felon, recently out of prison, who was never pardoned. On the other hand, it is true that, at the end of his sentence, Broussard was given an "automatic" pardon (from someone) because he had committed a non-violent crime. So, that's why we have courts!

A trial court ruled Broussard was disqualified because 1) he had been out of prison less than 15 years and 2) his pardon did not come from the president or governor. A court of appeals reversed, going so far as to question Broussard's conviction! Finally, the Louisiana State Supreme Court agreed with the trial court, and held Broussard ineligible.

See more on this story here and here.

Texas: Lawyer Disbarred, Pardoned, Angry.

Police say Robert Mustard shot himself in the head after shooting 66-year-old Richard Smith four times in the legs and 39-year-old Christopher Smith in the head and the neck (both men survived the attack). It is reported that Mustard, who received a law degree from Southern Methodist University, was "upset about financial dealings." In the 70s and 80s, he was disbarred and faced compulsory discipline after a conviction for felony bribery. But, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice also reports that Mustard received a 10-year sentence, was released on parole on Dec. 4, 1988 and received a full pardon from Governor Bill Clements on 1990. See more on the story here and here. We guess it is time to give Clements the Huckabee treatment! How could he release a violent felon and fail to see what is so obvious almost two decades later?

PardonResearch.Com is on the Way!

I will be building the skeletal outline for PardonResearch.com this morning (until noon or so) and will be constantly posting updated versions as I go. It is also my intention to at least start posting conference papers that used to be housed at PardonPower.com. If you would like to see it all happen, as it happens, feel free to stop by. Likewise, I am open for suggestions, especially in the early stages. Best,

Ohio: Reprieve to Rest Up, Recover, for Execution!

Lawrence Reynolds was scheduled to be executed Tuesday morning for a murder he committed way back in 1994. But, instead, he decided to attempt suicide. Apparently, Reynolds' condition is such that he is now quite unsuitable for execution.

So, Governor Ted Strickland has issued a reprieve, delaying the execution for another seven days, and allowing Mr. Reynolds to rest up, recover and get himself back into proper shape for execution!

See story in the Columbus Dispatch here.

More Change: Keeping the Heraclitus Crowd Happy!

The migration progress for PardonPower.com appears to be coming to an end. We continue to add images, fix dead links and adjust this and that. But most of these changes will not even be noticed. It also appears the current three-column spread works in IE, Firefox and Google - which pleases us very much. Now, we are ready to go on to the next big thing:

Tomorrow, we will launch PardonResearch.com in order to provide some of the information that used to appear on this blog and some. PardonResearch.com will serve as the primary starting point for members of the news media who are interested in data and analysis of federal executive clemency or, the president's power to power. The site will include downloadable versions of professional papers, manipulable bibliographies, higher quality graphs and charts and contact information for several pardon experts Nation-wide. Original data will be presented, discussed and - upon request - shared with interested readers. Please find a way to visit us at PardonResearch.com tomorrow!

Watch List: Support for Peltier

Peter Worthington, at the FrumForum, observes 65-year old Leonard Peltier is now starting his 35th year in prison. Among his supporters are Amnesty International, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Members of the European Parliament, David Geffen, Robert Redford and the Belgian and Italian parliaments. And, argues Worthington, "guilt" should no longer be "am issue" for "even if one believes he was guilty, [Peltier] has served enough time and deserves to be free."

In 1975, Peltier was charged with the shooting of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, near Wounded Knee where, in 1973, there was a highly publicized 71-day siege.He was actually one of four Indians charged, but chose to flee to Alberta. The other three went on trial. One had his charges dismissed and the two others were found not guilty (by reason of self defense). Worthington then summarizes Peltier's misadventures in the court system in a convincing manner.

The piece reminds us that Bill Clinton hinted that he might grant executive clemency to Peltier, "but changed his mind when some 500 FBI agents, retirees and families demonstrated outside the White House." Billionaire David Geffen also lobbied Clinton re Peltier. Worthington also reports Peltier has an "unblemished prison record" but "is going blind from diabetes, has kidney failure and is susceptible to strokes." PardonPower finds this one of the best written, focused, informative and persuasive pieces on this hot topic. See complete piece here.

Pardon for "Breaker" Morant?

It is reported that the Attorney General of Australia has at last sent a petition to the Queen of England, requesting a posthumous pardon for Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant. Morant was charged with murder and executed by firing squad in 1902, during the Boer War. Says one Commander Unkles:

“The passing of time and the fact that Morant, Handcock and Witton are deceased does not diminish the errors and these injustices must be addressed. The issue is not whether Morant and Handcock shot Boer prisoners, which they admitted to, but whether they were properly represented and military law properly and evenly applied.”

Morant, who actually volunteered to fight for Britain, was charged along with two others when his unit killed 12 prisoners of war and a German witness. The Australians admitted to the shooting, but there were substantial questions regarding the nature of their orders and standard practice. In addition, they were provided no representation until the day before trial and were not allowed to communicate with the Australian government throughout the procedings. One author says, however, that Morant and his co-defendants should not be honored for committing Rule 303 "war crimes." See story here.

California: Manson Family Member to be Paroled?

Bruce Davis, a member of Charles Manson's cheery 1970s “family,” has been recommended for parole after spending almost four decades behind bars for the role that he played in the murders of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea. The recommendation of the Board of Parole Hearings will now go to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 67-year old Davis, who has been denied parole 23 times, is reported to have become a "born-again Christian" and has earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in philosophy of religion. Two other "family" members have been paroled (Steve Grogan and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme) while Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel remain in prison. Davis plans to spend time with his family and do some landscaping if released. See story here.

The Authority of PARDON POWER !

Dear Readers,

According to a May 2008 post (or, about 150,000 visitors ago), the Technocrati "authority" figure for this blog was 16. At the time, we were thrilled, as we had no idea whatsoever what that meant, or did not mean!

So, today, we are simply beside ourselves to see that our blog "authority" is well above 400, No, we still do not know what it means, but there it is!

Best,

Oklahoma: Recommendation. Objection

Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board has recommended parole for Dennis Shackelford, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1992. The vote was unanimous, but conditioned upon successful completion of 120 days of community-level work release to be followed by psychological counseling. Shackelford has steadily maintained that he had was in fear for the life of his wife and himself and that he acted in self-defense. The family of the victim opposes any early release. See story here.

Migration Nears an End ... We Hope!

It appears that we have finally solved the 24 25 riddles which block the novice from effortless, perfect blog migration. Hearty hat tips to several people who made suggestions along the way - we thought about abandoning the project altogether more than once!. Hopefully, we can get back to blogging without additional major interruption.

We also want recognize that a lot of information was lost in the migration that was data oriented (especially) in the links in the right bar. These may reappear, from time to time, but our current goal is to create a separate site entirely dedicated to the presentation and sharing of data on federal executive clemency.

Thank you for your patience and many kind offers of assistance. Best,

New York: Pardon!

From the Office of the Governor:

Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he has pardoned Qing Hong Wu. Mr. Wu came to the United States from China with his parents at age five. In 2007 and engaged to be married to a United States citizen, Mr. Wu applied to become a United States citizen. Mr. Wu disclosed to United States Immigration officials that he had convictions for robberies which occurred in New York City in 1995 and 1996, for which Mr. Wu served three years in the custody of the former Division for Youth. These convictions require deportation under the inflexible federal immigration law. Mr. Wu was ordered to report to an immigration officer in November 2009 and was detained. He has been in federal custody ever since.

The "Migration" Continues

I continue to solve the problems as my guesses become more and more accurate! I thought I would also inform readers that I am considering going to a new format (being tested here). I have always felt a little column envy whenever I have visited Doug Berman's blog! So, let me know what you think!

Two things: If I go to the other format, 1) I will make the font a little larger and I will 2) house all of the charts and data on a new site - pardondata.com

best,

Apology to Our Readers

Blogger has decided to remove all of its FTP services so people like myself have to "migrate" our blogs elsewhere.

I would feel a lot better if I had any real idea of what that means exactly, but, as it stands, it appears to mean - at least for a while anyway - no pretty pictures and a lot of dead links!

I will address each issue as I learn to resolve it, but beg for you patience - PSR

Arkansas: 11 Pardons

Governor Mike Beebe has announced his intent to grant 11 pardons. He has also denied 10 requests. Each of the recipients has completed all jail time, fulfilled all parole-and-probationary requirements and paid all fines related to their sentences. Among the offenses addressed in the pardons are : Possession of Stolen Property, Embezzlement by Bailee, Possession of Controlled Substance, Robbery, Theft, Battery, Forgery, Possession of Marijuana, Domestic Battery, Breaking and Entering, Theft of Property, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Overdraft, Failure to Appear, Hot Check Violation, Theft of Property, Shoplifting. See story here.

Missouri: Meet Nelson Hopkins, Sr.

The Kansas City News blog has one fascinating piece on Nelson Hopkins Sr., the director of Pardon and Parole Negotiation Services. Hopkins seeks to help ex-cons, but he is said to drop clients like hot rocks if he "catches them in a lie" or if they are "unwilling to take responsibility for their crimes." His "vision" is to:

... repopulate the city's east side with reformed ex-cons -- the people who contributed to the decline of their neighborhoods by committing crimes, getting arrested, and leaving behind fatherless children. "Who else can come tell these young bucks how to live?" Hopkins asks. "We have to use the same people who tore these neighborhoods up. We have to tell them that it's their turn to rebuild the neighborhoods they tore down. 'You did it -- you gon' do it.'"

But Hopkins also believes society must be willing to forgive. So, he educates potential employers about state and federal incentives for hiring felons and offers assistance in writing letters to the governor of Missouri requesting clemency. See this fascinating story here. For additional information, go here.

Texas: Can the Governor Pardon an Innocent Person (That is Actually Living)?

While the Governor has demonstrated the ability to wield his significant clemency powers in the least relevant ways, the Dallas Morning News reports that he may very well be forced to employ them on the behalf of two LIVING persons! Chris Scott and Claude Simmons were released from prison almost five months ago and declared innocent by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday. The two men spent 12 long years in prison for a murder they did not commit.

Insights: Dear Mr. President, Yes You Can

 Mark W. Osler is Professor of Law, Baylor University, where he has taught since 2000. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School and former federal prosecutor (1995-2000). Professor Osler is an expert on sentencing and, among other things, his writings focus on the problem of inflexibility in sentencing and corrections and the role of mercy in a system that places so much emphasis on retribution. Professor Osler has testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission (2004) and in Congress (2009). He recently served as lead counsel in Spears v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 840 (2009) in which the Court held that sentencing judges can categorically reject the 100:1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine in the federal sentencing guidelines.

PardonPower: Tell us what we need to know about the "Dear Mr. President, Yes You Can" project and describe the role that you play in it?

OPA / DOJ Memorabilia

For some unknown number of years, the Office of the Pardon Attorney, in the Department of Justice, use to keep a stack of pardon files from the past, somewhere, for whatever reason. It included information regarding successful bids for pardons and commutations and sentence, but also had information on applications that were denied, or never acted upon. The stack was referred to as being made up of "permanent files." Today, the Office no longer houses these materials. They were shipped off to the National Archives sometime around 2002. But, if you are interested in seeing the original list, here it is, for your viewing pleasure.

Texas: Recommendation

Tim Cole was convicted of a 1985 rape and died in prison in 1999. Almost a decade later, a DNA test cleared Cole and implicated one Jerry Wayne Johnson. Now the State's pardons and parole board has recommended that Governor Perry grant Cole the first posthumous pardon in the State's history. See story here.