Haley Barbour Pardons: Mississippi Supreme Court Rejects Motion To Reconsider Ex-Governor's Decision

By Emily Le Coz

TUPELO, Miss, May 17 (Reuters) - Mississippi's high court on Thursday rejected a motion by its state attorney general to reconsider its approval of 10 pardons issued in January by then Governor Haley Barbour.

The decision not to rehear the case was handed down by the state Supreme Court without comment.

Attorney General Jim Hood had asked the court to void those pardons, among some 200 issued by the former Republican governor, on the grounds that technical procedures set out in the state constitution had not been met.

"It is a shame that former Governor Barbour abused the pardon power," Hood said in a statement on Thursday. "It is even more of a travesty that a majority of the present Mississippi Supreme Court chose not to enforce the clear language in our State Constitution."

The state Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in March that it could not set aside the contested pardons based solely on Hood's claim that the prisoners had failed to meet an obscure provision requiring felons seeking a pardon to publish the request in a newspaper 30 days in advance.

The 10 people who received the contested pardons were all prisoners at the time. Five had worked at the governor's mansion doing odd jobs, including four who were serving life sentences for murder.

"I pray no person becomes a victim of any of these pardoned criminals," Hood said. (Editing By Corrie MacLaggan and Tim Gaynor)

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[concentric1]

12:16 PM on 05/18/2012

Barbor ruling indicates that the ole boys club is alive, well and kicking still. Not just in Mississippi though

[MyNameIsMickey]

11:47 AM on 05/18/2012

Barbour's Cronies and friends of cronies - free at last, God Almighty, free at last.

[dwedge]

11:06 AM on 05/18/2012

Those who were pardoned will never get in trouble unless they start providing abortion services.

[cdecisneros]

10:57 AM on 05/18/2012

Remember when Dukakis let that Murder go? Willie Horton. So it is ok now?

[MyNameIsMickey]

11:51 AM on 05/18/2012

Its always ok if the Republican Party does it. Like many of the programs that Obama initiated. They were originally Republican ideas. But now they're against them. Have you ever heard of any Republicans being pro-medical-marijuana until Obama backtracked and decided he was against it? Its not about the country, its not about the economy. Its about getting THAT man out of the WhiteHouse. Thats all its been about, that is all it will be about until Obama is no longer president.

[cdecisneros]

02:44 PM on 05/18/2012

IOIYAR

[SirenForSanity]

10:56 AM on 05/18/2012

Just like slugs, you can't scrape off the slime the repubs leave behind.

[SantaMonican]

10:18 AM on 05/18/2012

Barbour will never be pardoned for this.

[camelias and sweet tea]

10:12 AM on 05/18/2012

I cannot believe this man has been out there showing his face in public after this mess.

[Cacey]

10:11 AM on 05/18/2012

CNN reported the other night that one of those pardoned (he'd been convicted of three DWIs) had comitted anothe DWI and his lawyers were arguing that since he'd been pardoned for the first three, this should be treated as his first. Next time I drive coast to coast, I'll take the far north route then swing down I-5. No way am I going through the South or Midwest.

[Rex Devious]

10:02 AM on 05/18/2012

"I pray no person becomes a victim of any of these pardoned criminals,"

That prayer would probably have a better chance if that Republican governor didn't let them all loose, just because they worked in his mansion.

You really have to wonder just what those convicts saw or heard in the governors mansion that made a tough-on-crime southern Republican give them all pardons.

[Cara DePalma]

09:58 AM on 05/18/2012

Link to the story http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-14/justice/justice_mississippi-pardons-new-charges_1_dui-arrest-mississippi-governor-new-charges?_s=PM:JUSTICE

[Cara DePalma]

09:57 AM on 05/18/2012

One of the criminals he pardoned was sitting in a jail cell on his 4th DUI in which he killed an 18 year old girl. Hayley Barbour should be in jail himself.

[Jebbushnot]

09:23 AM on 05/18/2012

Why people in Mississippi vote for these Right Wing Clowns year after year after year says something about low information voters and also as to why Mitt Rommel may win in November.

[Clevelandinwi]

09:16 AM on 05/18/2012

barbour got away with this? Really? I'm sick to my stomach.