Pardons

Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy

Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Pardons, White House, Video, Bush Administration, Clarence Aaron Case, Presidential Pardons, Prison, Prisoners, George W. Bush, Justice Department, Clarence Aaron, Ronald Rodgers, Crime News

ProPublica's Dafna Linzer reports: A version of this story was co-published with The Washington Post. Clarence Aaron seemed to be especially deservin...

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Who's to Blame for Pardon Abuse?

Mark Osler | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Pardons, Mississippi, Presidential Debates, Presidential Pardons, Haley Barbour, Mississippi Primary, Executive Pardons, Politics News
Mark Osler

We repeatedly express surprise when this unilateral power is used and are quick to decry the lack of principle behind some uses of the pardon power. Yet we never ask how a candidate would use the pardon power during the election cycle?

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Pardon Me?

Kim Carter | Posted 04.14.2012

Read More: Pardon System, Pardons, Haley Barbour, Haley Barbour Pardon, Los Angeles News
Kim Carter

When Haley Barbour gave out 215 pardons a few weeks back, the relatives of victims immediately contacted the media to share their outrage. The media seem to have completely ignored the reality that the real problem is systematic.

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Court Takes Up Challenge To Former GOP Governor

AP | HOLBROOK MOHR | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Haley Barbour Pardons, Pardons, Video, Gov. Haley Barbour, Mississippi, Jim Hood, Haley Barbour, Mississippi Supreme Court, Politics News

JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Supreme Court said Wednesday it will take up the legal challenge to the pardons ex-Gov. Haley Barbour gave out ...

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Why Did Governor Haley Barbour's Pardons Cause Such A Backlash?

Molly M. Gill | Posted 03.20.2012

Read More: Haley Barbour Pardons, Haley Barbour, Haley-Barbour-Pardons-Blocked, Mandatory Sentencing, Pardons, Incarceration Rates, Mississippi Pardons, Sentencing, Prisons, Manditory Minimums, Crime News
Molly M. Gill

The last 30 years of sentencing policy may provide an answer. Getting "tough on crime" became popular among the public and politicians alike. We rejected the notion that a criminal could be rehabilitated.

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Presidential Pardons Heavily Favor Whites

Dafna Linzer and Jennifer LaFleur | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Pardons, Propublica Race and Pardons, Racial Disparities in Pardons, Propublica, Race in Presidential Pardons, Presidential Pardons, Presidential Pardons and Race, Propublica Racial Disparities in Presidential Pardons, Black Voices News

First of two parts. Part two here [1]. This story was co-published [2] with The Washington Post.White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the ...

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Review Of Pardons In Past Decade Shows Process Heavily Favored Whites

The Washington Post | Posted 12.04.2011

Read More: Pardons, Race, America, Crime, Crime News

White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the past decade have been nearly four times as likely to succeed as minorities, a ProPublica examina...

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Obama Issues Multiple Pardons For Marijuana-Related Sentences

AP | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Pardons, Video, Barack-Obama-Pardons, Presidential Pardons, Marijuana, Presidential Pardon, Presidential Commutation, Barack-Obama, Barack Obama Commutation, Obama Commutation, Barack Obama, Cocaine, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Monday pardoned five people convicted of charges ranging from intent to distribute marijuana to running an ill...

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Cowardice Killed Troy Davis

Norm Stamper | Posted 11.23.2011

Read More: Georgia Supreme Court, Troy Davis, Capital Punishment, Antonin Scalia, Clemency, Executions, Death Penalty, U.S. Supreme Court, Pardons, Paroles, Politics News
Norm Stamper

There is one rarely heard argument against the death penalty that deserves a place in the debate: Executions are the coward's way out.

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Arthur Delaney

The Elusiveness Of Presidential Pardons

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 08.03.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Pardons, Federal Pardons, Office of the Pardon Attorney, Presidential Pardon, Executive Clemency, Felonies, Politics News

A 1975 felony conviction and three-year prison stint ended Randy Eugene Dyer's career as a bad guy who imported drugs from Mexico and started his care...

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Obama Pardons 8 People

AP | By PETE YOST | Posted 07.20.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Pardons, Christine Marie Rossiter, Presidential Pardons, Marijuana, Michael Ray Neal, Allen Edward Peratt Sr, Alligator Hides, Patricia Ann Weinzatl, Randy Eugene Dyer, Edwin Alan North, Barack Obama, Bobby Gerald Wilson, Danny Alonzo Levitz, Alligators, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday pardoned eight people convicted of crimes ranging from conspiring to import marijuana to selling alliga...

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Scott Sisters Freed! Gov. Barbour Wants a Kidney for their Freedom

Anthony Papa | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wrongful Conviction, Theft, Pardons, Politics News, Gov. Haley Barbour, Racism, Gladys and Jamie Scott, Armed Robbery, Scott Sisters, The Supreme Court, Injustice, Crime, Mississippi, Clemency, Political News, Politics News
Anthony Papa

I wish the Scott Sisters the best in their regaining their freedom and hope they lead fruitful lives. And I pray that Governor Barbour does not use the freedom for organs tradeoff anymore in the future to save the state of Mississippi tax dollars.

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Whistleblower Birkenfeld Asks Obama For Pardon

bloomberg.com | David Voreacos | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Fraud, Ubs, Pardons, Whistleblowers, Switzerland, Irs, Brad Birkenfeld, UBS Tax Fraud, Internal Revenue Service, Tax Fraud, Carl Levin, Barack Obama, Securities and Exchange Commission KPMG, Business News

Birkenfeld, 45, has asked President Barack Obama to commute a 40-month term he began in January at Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution for his...

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Anti-Slavery Pardons: Kentucky Activists Seek Redemption For 'Criminals' Who Helped Free Slaves

McClatchy | John Cheves | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Kentucky, Slave Pardons, Slavery, Anti-Slavery, Pardons, Politics News

In the 19th century, Kentucky convicted at least 58 people for "seducing or enticing slaves to leave their lawful owners." Defendants faced 20 years i...

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Reversal of Fortune: How a Pardon Halts Detention and Deportation

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Absolution, Clemency, Commutation, Deportation, Exoneration, Forgiveness, Immigration Detention, Immigration Law Enforcement, Pardons, Presidential Pardons, Rehabilitation, Reprieve, Politics News, Compurgation, Leniency, Venia, Vindication, Immigration and Nationality Act, Magana-Pizano, Politics News
Arlene M. Roberts

The fate of a young immigrant man seemed set in stone - mandatory detention since he was a 'criminal alien' followed by deportation to the country of ...

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Political Haiku: Are We Accomplices Now?

Frank Dwyer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Long National Nightmare, Whitewash, Pardons, Jay Bybee, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, John Yoo, Rule of Law, George W. Bush, Department of Justice, Accomplices, High Crimes, Barack Obama, Torture, Politics News
Frank Dwyer

"Poor judgment": me, too! I was against torture, but I voted for . . . yoo. Our long national nightmare is still over, right? Nah, doin' jus' fine....

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How I Met the Biggest Devil

Daniel Ammann | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Oil Traders, Pardons, White Collar Crime, Marc Rich, Books News
Daniel Ammann

Marc Rich, the world's most powerful oil trader who had systematically avoided reporters and had given his last interview over twenty years ago, finally opened up about his businesses and his private life.

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First Lieberman, Now Huckabee?

Norm Stamper | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Parole, Pardons, Bill Clinton, Gop, Slain Officers, Terrorism, Governor George Ryan, Maurice Clemmons, Baptist Preacher, Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct and Incompetence, Wayne Dumond, Post Prison Transfer Board, Larry Jegley, Major Nidal Hasan, Jim Guy Tucker, Wrongful Convictions, Death Row, Frank White, Mike Huckabee, Arkansas, Jailhouse Snitches, Lakewood Washington, Joe Lieberman, Pulaski County, Tulia Texas, Debra Saunders, Illinois, Pptb, Politics News
Norm Stamper

We should candidly look at whether Mike Huckabee is getting a raw deal for granting clemency to the man who murdered four Lakewood, Washington cops this Thanksgiving weekend.

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Bidding a Not-So-Fond Farewell to Willie Horton

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Ph.D. | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pardons, Willie Horton, Clemency, Ted Strickland, Maurice Clemmons, Huckabee Clemmons Clemency, Politics News
Andrew Grant-Thomas, Ph.D.

High-profile clemency cases like Maurice Clemmons, while tragic, are ridiculously atypical of the cases that usually come to the attention of parole boards and chief executives.

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What I Want For Christmas: Mass Clemency

Jacob M. Appel | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rockefeller Drug Laws, Pardons, Law, Capital Punishment, George W. Bush, War on Drugs, Media, Politics, Liberty, Christmas, Freedom, Ethics, Jail, Constitution, Justice, Illinois, Mercy, Crime, Drug War, Amnesty, Toney Anaya, Massachusetts, Forgiveness, Barack Obama, Compassion, George Ryan, New York, Clemency, Pardon-Power, Religion, Prison, Michigan, Jack Johnson, Governors, Politics News
Jacob M. Appel

A mass, collective pardon of nonviolent offenders would reunite hundreds of thousands of families, save billions of dollars in incarceration costs, and might foster a national spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.

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I Beg Your Pardon

Michael Sigman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Conrad Black, Pardons, Jimmy Hoffa, Mark Rich, Bush Pardons, George Bush, Cheney, Scooter Libby, Presidential Pardons, Politics News
Michael Sigman

What if Bush and company are held accountable for their grave offenses -- say, torture or the attorney general scandal?

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An Open Letter to George W. Bush

Gary S. Chafetz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John Mccain Abramoff, George Bush, Pardons, John McCain, Jack Abramoff, American Indians, Criminal Activity, Crime, Native Americans, Mccain Jack Abramoff, McCain Abramoff, Pulitzer Prize, Abramoff, Presidential Pardons, Abramoff Scandal, Jack Abramoff Scandal, Bush Pardons, George Bush Pardons, Politics News
Gary S. Chafetz

After conducting an investigation, I concluded that Jack Abramoff did not defraud his tribal clients, did not bribe any elected or appointed federal officials, and did not corrupt the political process.

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Bush's Final Press Conference

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George Bush, Europe, Social Security, Pardons, Gop, Pardon, Mission Accomplished, Economy, Guantanamo, Gitmo, Bush Fatigue, Obama, Immigration, White House, Media, America, President, Bush Derangement Syndrome, Republican, Bush, Bailout, Katrina, Reporters, American Ideals, Press Conference, Moral Standing, Republican Party, Worst President Ever, Coast Guard, Press, Recession, Wall Street, Chris Weigant, Mistakes, Abu Graib, Bubble, Press Corps, Mistake, Torture, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Lest I be accused of "Bush Derangement Syndrome," I'm reproducing some of the most interesting answers Bush gave today, with a minimum of snarky commentary.

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From Guantanamo to Accountability and Beyond

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Geneva Conventions, Human Rights Center, Presidential Powers, Office of the Pardon Attorney, US Accountability Project, Interrogation, Jonathan Mahler, Carolyn Patty Blum, Presidential Pardons, Open Society Institute, Military Commissions, Detention, The Challenge, International Center for Transitional Justice, Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Violations, International Human Rights, Civil Liberties, Military Tribunals, Aclu, Pardons, Eric Stover, Laurel Fletcher, Osi, Politics News
Arlene M. Roberts

President-elect Obama made known his intention to close the Guantanamo detention facility. The projected closure raises a plethora of issues.

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Why Rove Attacks Eric Holder: To Provide Cover for Bush's Pardons

Paul Abrams | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George Bush, Karl Rove, Senate Judiciary Committee, Eric Holder, Pardons, Confirmation Hearings, Dick Cheney, Politics News
Paul Abrams

Karl Rove understands better than anyone that George Bush needs as much wiggle room as possible to provide the pardons he and scores of his rogue colleagues expect.

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