Posted on 11/24/2008 3:48:08 PM PST by vikingd00d
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds ranging from drug offenses to tax evasion, from wildlife violations to bank embezzlement, The Associated Press learned Monday. The new round of White House pardons are Bush's first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property. Bush has been stingy during his time in office about handing out such reprieves. Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That's less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I'm actually hoping that Obama addresses this. It might just be the one area where he could make some positive changes.
At least we know Bush won’t be selling pardons a la Clinton.
FYI: The President's pardon powers extend only to federal crimes. Persons convicted of a state offense have to look to the governor for a pardon.
sent....praying
I’ll make a wild guess that Obama will at some point issue a pardon to the cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Isn’t he in prison on a PA state murder conviction? Now that doesn’t mean that Obama wouldn’t try to have some influence over a state issue.
Okay, what is “unlawful use of a telephone” in connection with a drug offense? Did the guy slam the FBI agent alongside his head with an old style dial telephone?
I don’t see Scooter Libby’s name either.
If he leaves office without pardoning Ramos and Compean he’ll lose what little respect I have left for him.
A little background on James Russell Harris (Detroit News):
A former Detroit police sergeant convicted in a cocaine case arising from an FBI sting operation was among two people granted clemency Monday by President George W. Bush.
James Russell "Jimmie" Harrris, now 62 and serving a 30-year prison sentence that was expected to keep him locked up until 2019, is to be released soon from a federal prison in North Carolina under the president's order.
Harris of Detroit was convicted of providing protection to FBI agents posing as drug lords and money launderers.
"I'm very happy to hear that," said Detroit attorney Mark Kriger, who at one time represented Harris. "That was a very long sentence. He's very ill (with diabetes), is my understanding."
Paul Byers, a Cincinnati, Ohio, attorney who unsuccessfully appealed Harris' sentence to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, was surprised to hear about the clemency Monday.
"It was a very sad case, that's for sure," Byers said. "I sure felt bad for he and his family."
Sentenced in 1993, Harris was convicted in 1992 after a federal trial in Flint. An earlier trial ended in a hung jury.
Bush is disloyal to those who support(ed) him.
Like his daddy, he wants to be loved by his detractors.
This makes for a poor Presidency.
That's for the pardon's board to figure out. I believe in redemption. The scarlet letter of a criminal history greatly hampers people who might otherwise be reformed. I'd like to see people contributing to society, not sucking off it.
So maybe there’s a jurisdiction problem? Or to put it another way, it’s not in Obama’s pay grade?
I disagree. It can help mitigate the harsh and often cruel effects of the Judicial system, which often makes mistakes. If used “properly” it can make past wrongs right.
How bitterly ironic. The lying, stinking, thieving swine that run our country lie to us on a daily basis, including one very prominent case of perjury I can think of about 10 years ago or so, and yet WE go to jail for lying to the government. The world is completely upside down.
Ramos and Compean are political prisoners. They won’t be getting pardoned. (And I hope very much that I’m proven wrong...)
It is not going to happen.
That would not surprise me in the least.
Once he leaves office he is going to have more than enough problems of his own.
One way or another the socialists a/k/a democrats are going to put him in prison.
Whether they do it with one of their Stalin type show trials or turn him over to the international criminal court remains to be seen.
Don't tell that to those that worship him like some kind of celebrity, as they suggest he has protected Americans since 911.
When in fact tens of thousands of Americans have been murdered, robbed, raped, and injured at the hands of illegal aliens....This is not to mention that tens of thousands of other Americans that have been victims of fraud and property crimes at the hands of illegal aliens.
Those that suggest this BS, need to be exposed.
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