Miss. Gov. Barbour pardons convicted murderer

Associated Press ^ | 9 Jan 2012 | Holbrook Mohr

[ScottinVA]

Some here on FR were pimping Barbour for President. To pardon someone who murdered his estranged wife while she held their 6-month-old son tells me Barbour lacks good judgment. WTH was he thinking???

[stockpirate]

Halley Huckibie.

[stockpirate]

Scumbag republican alert.

[Leaning Right]

Evidently, the inmate was a successful butler (or whatever). To Barbour, that trumps a murder conviction.

Yet more evidence that an executive’s power to pardon must not be absolute.

[ScottinVA]

Trusties are prisoners who earn privileges through good behavior.

Well... good behavior would've kept them out of prison to start with. The guy MURDERED HIS WIFE!!!! Would Barbour have pardoned O.J.?

[Crichton]

Pardons should be reserved for cases where the punishment doesn't fit the crime, particularly for relatively petty offenses.

Obviously this is not such a case.

[ScottinVA]

Pardons should be reserved for cases where the punishment doesn't fit the crime, particularly for relatively petty offenses.

Exactly! Scooter Libbey could be pardoned; not so for a wife killer.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Go to hell, Barbour.

[trumandogz]

“Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Suzanne Singletary said Gatlin was released Sunday after being pardoned by Barbour, a Republican who leaves office Tuesday at the end of his second term.”

Look at that, right there is the middle of the 4th paragraph, the AP has to mention that Barbour is a Republican.

If a Democratic governor has pardoned a wife-murderer, the AP would not have mentioned his party affiliation.

[NTegraT]

What state in its right mind would allow a convicted murderer to do work outside a prison wall? Geez. Really?

[Crichton]

I guess I can see the argument for pardoning a killer whose crime was not premeditated, as such 'crimes of passion' are likely to be one-time aberrations.

But again, that does not seem to be the case here, and -- this will mark me as hopelessly discriminatory -- I can't see pardoning a man who killed a woman, particularly his wife.

[CaptainK]

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the AP for a 2008 story that the inmates who end up working at the Governor's Mansion are often convicted murderers because they are the ones who serve long enough sentences to build the trust needed for such a task.

In what insane world does this make sense?

[WayneS]

I am very disappointed in Mr. Barbour. I will endeavor to remember this when he announces he is seeking higher office.

[Busywhiskers]

Gee...it’s like a mob is forming on this thread.

[LibLieSlayer]

He is my governor and I would never vote for him for any office ever again. He is a corporatist... he is anti PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS and he has a history of freeing convicted murderers of the most heinous kind.

LLS

[newzjunkey]

Is this his Huckabee moment? Such pardons are foolishness.

[WayneS]

Justice, in this case, appears to not only be blind, but deaf, dumb and high on crack...

[SaraJohnson]

Although I pray God pardons the guy if he has repented (as obviously Barbour believes), but the job of the Governor is to protect the public by keeping murderers and rapists in prision for as long as possible.

This is sending a message to the parole board and before long, we will have serial murderers released on the public like the good old days of total liberalism and it’s revolving doors.

Huckster did the same thing and one (at least) of the perps he releassed murdered cops eating in a resturant in Washington State after his release.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I suspect all of Barbour’s input was a signature. The decision of who is a trustee, who will work at the governor’s mansion, and often, who will be pardoned is just sent to the governor, who knows little or nothing about the criminal case.

http://is.gd/Kfv81l

Right at the end of this .pdf file, it explains that the Mississippi state board of pardons and paroles are who recommends pardons to the governor, after they conduct an investigation.

[LibLieSlayer]

His sorry arse is gone tomorrow. Phil Bryant is our new governor...a man that ran against many things that the progressive and fatassed haley barbour was in favor of. We actually will have a governor that will sign Eminent Domain reform and he is against the new Internet tax that haley was pushing.haley is pure fat trash.

LLS