TheAgitator.com
Obama’s Pardon Drought Continues
Thursday, February 11th, 2010President Obama has now gone 387 days into his presidency without issuing a single pardon or commutation. He trails only George Washington, John Adams, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush for longest pardon drought to start a presidency.
The ACLU is mounting a campaign to make Hamedah Hasan Obama’s first executive clemency. Hasan was given a 27-year mandatory minimum sentence for playing a relatively minor role in her cousin’s crack cocaine operation. The long sentence was due to the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity. It was Hasan’s first offense, and the acts that led to her conspiracy conviction were all nonviolent. The judge who sentenced Hasan is also asking for her release. So far, she’s served 16 years of her sentence. Only an act of executive clemency can prevent her from serving out the remaining 11 years.
More about Hasan’s case here.
Meanwhile, pardon power scholar P.S. Ruckman points to a CBS News story about Obama’s pardon drought, and says an administration aide’s explanation for the lack of clemency action—that first-year presidents get overwhelmed with pardon petitions—simply isn’t true.
Even if it were true, so f’ing what? Is it impossible to action any of them until they’ve all been reviewed?
So Obama is offering *excuses* for his overall crapiness, AND those excuses are not based in reality!!?? What’s next, Police Officers breaking the law?
Couldst thou, sir, direct a fellow subject to a politician who baseth ANYTHING in reality?
#3
I imagine I could, but yeah it would take me days if not weeks. Your point is well-taken – and was never in dispute.
I’m biased as often finding myself talking with folks still holding out hope, if not downright believing, that Obama is different, so….
Nick
I have to confess that I briefly thought Obama offered hope for improvement.
IIRC, that belief lasted until about noon, Jan 21, 2009.
It’s worse than Radley says. She was given a mandatory *life* sentence, which was later reduced to 27 years after a legislative change. A judge just attempted to change it to 12 years (time served) and found that she couldn’t. What a mess.
A White House aide lying. Well! Now I’ve seen everything.
Yeah, first pardon going to a guy with a Muslim name I wonder what the right wingers would pay to have that happen. “See, we told you he was soft on terrorism!”
Sadly, no American politician ever suffers any political harm from failing to pardon someone serving an unjust sentence. And it is guaranteed that, no matter how outrageous the sentence, there will be some loudmouthed cretin with a public voice who will passionately defend the sentence and who will attack the politician who uses the pardon. So it’s not surprising that pardons don’t get issued more often.
I’m with skunky. The first black president, with a muslim name, and past drug use, is not going to start by pardoning a crack dealer with a muslim name. It would be someone with a good story, preferably military, or who has turned their life around.
Unfortunate, and unjust, but thats politics.
Well, pardon me all over the place. ; )
In a grudging defense of Washington and Adams (both of whom were law-and-order types), there just weren’t a whole lot of federal crimes they could have pardoned from 1789-1801.
As for her name – looks to me like she converted to Islam while in prison. Which actually makes the whole thing worse…
No coincidence that the last three presidents are in the top 5. It is getting worse.
While I agree with skunky and SJE, I’d add that even if her name were Susan Smith she probably couldn’t get a pardon.
At this point anything short of demanding the execution of obviously innocent people because they were possibly suspected of maybe thinking of doing something wrong is labeled “soft on crime”.
What about this guy?
Christopher Handley, the Iowa man on trial for possessing manga “drawings of children being sexually abused,” was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison. Following this sentence, Handley must serve three years of supervised release and five years of probation. Both of these terms will start upon his release from prison and will run concurrently. Handley also agreed to forfeit all seized materials, including his computer. During Handley’s supervised release and probation, Handley must also “participate in a treatment program, to include psychological testing and a polygraph examination, as directed by the U. S. Probation Officer.” According to earlier court documents, this last provision is “intended to provide [Handley] with diagnosis and treatment for sexually and/or gender identity or other mental health issues.”
What about this guy?
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-11/christopher-handley-sentenced-to-6-months-for-obscene-manga
Meanwhile, Leonard Peltier sits rotting away in a Federal Prison. The Indian Nations have been waiting 500 years for justice. Shame shame shame!
Ack! Apologies for the multiple comments, please just delete them. I couldn’t see they were awaiting moderation because before I had javascript and cookies turned off.
As for Handley, I feel like he got busted for thoughtcrime, but probably a horrible choice for a pardon, especially politically.
Obama should pardon some of the teenagers busted for “sexting”, that would probably help his popularity and I’d certainly gain some respect for him.
Our justice system is out of control, arresting people for thinking a certain way and ruining kid’s lives for taking pictures of themselves!
I think a presidential pardon for some of these victimless crimes could be good for him politically, and good for everyone else.
I’m conflicted on this. On the one hand, obviously it would be nice if there were less injustice in the world. On the other hand, while issuing pardons is part of the president’s powers I’m not sure it’s not a large part of his or her job. I mean, I’m eager to see the criminal justice system reformed, but I doubt I’m the only one who would feel it a bit peculiar for a president to personally try to right every wrong. And that’s the dilemma–anything short of a full commitment is similarly shy of justice, but we don’t expect a full commitment, so what’s an appropriate middle ground?
@MattD
The way I feel about it is, I think a president should pardon every single person he thinks has been convicted of an unconstitutional crime. Would you really be against it if a libertarian became president, and just mass pardoned all non-violent drug offenders, obscenity cases, teen sexting cases, etc?
Even though I didn’t vote for him, I never thought he would be this disappointing as president.
As far as I can tell, he has accomplished next to nothing to this point.
Good riddance in 2012.
The way to legitimize one’s self and show up on Obama’s radar screen is through identity politics. Obama’s communalism doesn’t extend to the lonesome falsely accused or convicted criminal.
Look at the criminal justice intake side. Obama has declared pre-trial that the criminal justice system will convict KSM; KSM’s conviction is viewed as a societal prerogative that has little, if anything, to do with particular facts might be adduced during the case. I say this not in defense of KSM, but to illustrate how far reaching is Obama’s disrespect for liberty, freedom and justice. In my lifetime, I don’t recall any other President who has declared a defendent guilty before a criminal trial.
Obama’s amorality and disrespect for the individual are remarkably consistent.
For those who haven’t seen it, a great group of pictures of dogs and their owners: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/dogs_and_sleds.html
Good riddance in 2012.
Run Sarah Run!
A lesson in the Constitution: Congress has only the authority to make counterfeiting, piracies and felonies on the hihg seas, offenses against the law of nations, and treason rimes subject to federal punishment. No other powers over punishment are granted. ALL the other federal criminal laws are unconstitutional.
You have been lied to, cheated on, and treated like dirt.
Learn the document. Require that your Congresscritter foloows the law. Stand up for the government that We the People created.
I could not possibly be more against President Obama pardoning some single little person in order to break his “pardon draught”.
Window dressing; innoculation; red herring – pick your perspective for the thing, it’s all the same. The legal system crushes millions of people under foot (aided, by the way, by the corporate capitalist marketing get-rich-or-die-trying system) and the very LAST thing we should be doing is scratching that itch by releasing one single solitary person.
Easily fixable social issues CREATE hordes of criminals
Terrifically evil laws make criminals out of people who broke no societal contact
Tens of thousands of innocent people are inaccurately convicted
Millions of convicted people suffer cruel and unusal punishments that are entirely disproportionate to their crimes.
I DO NOT(!) WANT OUR GUILT OVER THIS ASSUAGED BY A PHOTO-OP OF A TINY LITTLE PARDON. Let this itch fester until the cancer is removed. Don’t scratch the damn thing and feel like you can forget about it for a day.
@#27 WOW
You hit the nail on the head bro.
[...] Barack Obama has now gone longer than all but four Presidents before him in issuing a pardon, and one prisoner has joined with the ACLU in calling on him to [...]
Perhaps Obama, as America’s first (well, second) “black” president (and none have been fully black!), is trying to appear tough. It could be also that he is like Bill Clinton (America’s “first black president”), he is waiting to sign a bunch of pardons at the last minute (who knows WHAT kinds of seamy bullcrap will go on THEN.)
BILLY MEL ALFORD vS. TEXAS was sentenced to Federal prison for 45 years. Just recently a man attempts to blow up a building and kill people and recieves 24 yrs. Something is wrong with the criminal system her.
Please help me Mr. Alford deserves another chance at life.
Billy Mel Alford vs. State of Texas 45 yrs for 3000 kilograms for marijuana
Please contact me at Alfordwilliam@hotmail.com if you can help me with this case. FEB 1997