Posted on 01/14/2012 3:27:06 AM PST by KantianBurke
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he's "very comfortable" with his decision to grant pardons or other clemency to more than 200 people, including convicted killers, in his last days in office, telling Fox News that Mississippi is predominantly Christian and believes in forgiveness.
The pardons have set off outrage among some victims' families and prompted a judge to block the release of some of the pardoned inmates out of concern that proper notification rules were not followed.
Barbour told Fox News that any problem with paperwork was an accident on the part of corrections officials, who needed to send the notices out earlier to get them published in newspapers on time. But he defended the pardons.
"I understand and recognize that these families had love ones who were the victims of terrible crimes ... and I sympathize with the fact that this hurts them, that they lost somebody like that and that they're not going to forget it and they want vengance," Barbour said on Fox News' "Special Report."
"But what the state does and has done ... most people in Mississippi are Christians or profess to be Christians, and we believe in forgiveness and we believe in second chances," he said.
Barbour told the Associated Press in an earlier interview that it's a tradition in Mississippi for governors to free the trusties who worked at the Governor's Mansion. Four inmates freed this past weekend are convicted killers who worked as trusties.
And the former governor said he's not concerned that the freed trusties might harm anyone. "I have absolute confidence, so much confidence, that I'd let my grandchildren play with these five men," the Republican said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
There were two really weird things which happened this week.
Barbour’s “pardon” thing.
And Bolton’s endorsement of Romney. Really makes me wonder about both of them...
What a weak-kneed, hypocrite! And to think that there was a strong contingent on this board promoting ‘Barbour for Prez’ this time last year.
Deja vu all over again. Isn’t this what helped sink Huck?
What is it about these evangelical governors?
Sunspot activity?
Full Moon?
It is nobody’s right to forgive offenses that didn’t happen to them. If you punched my brother, I don’t have the right to forgive you outside of the actual offense to me.
It’s a question of ownership.
I blame Karl Rove.
Just on general principle.
They are biblical ignorant. God said to send back to Him those that commit homicide. He gave NO authority to flesh beings to pass out get out of jail second chances pardons to killers.
Easy to speak and act when it is not your family, shame on you!
Shades of huckster. What cop and/or individual will pay the price for this dumb move.
He’s defending the indefensible. I can’t imagine what those families feel like. I’d be furious.
I’m hoping these thugs don’t kill anyone
Frankly, he was ill-advised, and it makes you wonder how he got to where he is in life. When you issue pardons....you need to personally get involved and actually talk to people beyond just your cousin or your chief of staff.
Barbour could have forgiven them without setting them loose on society again.
I’ve said it before, but if I were wealthy, I’d buy houses next to the grandchildren of officials and judges who let out these monsters and let them stay next to THEIR relatives.
bookmark
Since when does personal forgivness equal not holding people legally responsible for their heinous acts?
And does he have the right to forgive on behalf of the victim’s and their families?
How does all this stuff work?
This is a perfect example of what happens when you get senile.
Barbour came out strong for Romney too, right? Wonder how much he got.
Let’s face it folks...a Romney president is going to be indebted to a lot of people.... a lot of people.
I have never understood the logic of giving governors the right to pardon criminals. Unless new evidence emerges casting doubt on their conviction there should be no pardons by anyone!!
Romney is not all things but I think he will be forced to do a good job especially if we get both houses. I think Bolton thinks the same way. GET BEHIND THE REPUB CANDIDATE.
Yup. Old men get soft in the head and weak in the knees. Politicians should start at thirty and retire at sixty.
Slow down there.
Only one primary - out of 50 - has yet voted.
After Newt beats Romney in the primaries, then we can have this conversation about rallying behind our candidate.
Until then, all bets are off! Romney’s a sleazeball. He’s going to lose.
Crimes are suppose to be punished, that is a Biblical concept.
We haven’t picked one yet.
Another idiot, Hally Huckibe
Couldn't have said it better myself.
There was something about him I didn't like. I now know what it was. . . . . .
Um... so if it were done out of Christian belief (which it may have been) why did he wait till the last day in office to release them and not the first day when he would have paid a cost politically? I think he is not being authentic.
If he was so certain the people of Mississippi were so forgiving, why didn’t he set these scumbags free at the end of his first term?
I will be glad to get behind the Repub Candidate as along as that candidate is not Romney or Paul.
Brown acid.
Won’t say anything about Barbour’s pardons, but back in 1976 a younger Haley Barbour led Gerald Ford’s campaign efforts in the southeastern states.
He helped twist the arms of delegates from Mississippi to put Ford over the top in the close race with Ronald Reagan in 1976.
Barbour was always from the insider establishment RINO wing of the GOP.
Governors who pardon monsters should be civilly and criminally responsible if they commit further crimes after they are released from prison. Easy for a gutless wonder like Barbour to make himself good while putting others at risk. Put his own neck on the line and we’ll see how much Christian charity he actually possesses.
Was anyone executed in Mississippi under this clown’s watch?
If he is willing to pardon murderers because its the Christian thing to do, then why didn’t he just empty the prisons of all the robbers and thieves?
“then why didn’t he just empty the prisons of all the robbers and thieves?”
Because they all weren’t his personal slaves on his plantation.
Apparently he only issued pardons to his friends.
Apparently he only issued pardons to his friends.
That’s like saying I believe in the welfare state because it’s Christian charity.
Maybe, having worked near the Governor, these five trusties are a bit more trusty than anyone knows.
Jesus taught not to take personal revenge but it is the duty of the state to punish the guilty, in part to protect the innocent, and in part because actions have consequences. Mercy to the wolf is injustice to the sheep.
Dubya sure did:
"It's going to take awhile for this piece of legislation to kick in. It's going to take about two years to get all the reforms in place. But within six months of the law being signed, our seniors will start to see real savings in health care costs because seniors will be eligible for a drug discount card that will save them between 10 to 25 percent off their regular drug costs. And low income seniors will receive up to $600 a year to help them with their drug costs in addition to the card. Their card will serve as a transition to the reforms that are inherent in the Medicare legislation.
When the full drug benefit arrives in 2006, all seniors will be eligible for prescription drug coverage for a monthly premium of about $35. The result is that for most seniors without coverage today, the Medicare drug plan will cut their annual drug bills roughly in half. That's positive news for America's seniors.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031125-5.html
Barbour’s “pardon” thing.
And Bolton’s endorsement of Romney. Really makes me wonder about both of them...
Weird?
Around here we call them Career Enders.
“What is it about these evangelical governors?”
They think they were elected God. Of course, none of them run on a platform of “Dispensing forgiveness to murderers and other unsavory characters at the end of my term”
What he doesn’t want to say, but is usually the case with these evangelical characters, is that God told him to do this.
Correct as I have pointed out to people before, you can forgive them, and then flip the switch that sends their soul to judgement.
OK, not from all Your followers, just the ones who hear voices in their heads telling them to do stupid things and attribute them to You. Amen
I am perfectly comfortable forgiving convicted murderers who are sitting behind bars for the rest of their natural lives, or those who have a date with the execution chamber. They no longer pose a danger to the public, while holding hate in my heart is unhealthy once the danger has passed. Where I have an issue is with confusing personal forgiveness with a pardon. Once these bloodthirsty killers are out, they are again a danger. Also, if others who are considering the ultimate crime see the punishment as acceptable, releasing them with a clean slate puts people in danger even if the released murderer doesn’t happen to snap again. This was the wrong move by yet another out of touch governor.
I might be totally off base, but Romney is Kerry 2.0 to me.
He will say anything to get elected. And he was before it before he was againstt it.
And then there is that pesky ‘I am progressive’ thingey.
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