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A lot of people, including many on this forum, thought Dumond had been framed or railroaded by Klintoon. His interceding on Dumond's behalf doesn't bother me nearly as much as his lies about it, and the fact that he issued more pardons and commutations during his tenure than all the neighboring states combined.

Arkansas clemencies outpace other states (August 2004)
Garrick Feldman
The Arkansa Leader
08-11-04
(Excerpted)

If you're wondering how Gov. Huckabee's hundreds of clemencies compare with neighboring states, get ready for a shocker.

Huckabee leads the pack.

He has issued more commutations and pardons than all of the six neighboring states combined.

Governors seldom reduce sentences in other states – and almost never for murderers serving life without parole or for rapists or for habitual drunk drivers, while in Arkansas it's a regular habit with Huckabee.

Other governors use their clemency power only rarely, while Huckabee has made it routine. As we've told you before, he has issued more than 700 pardons and commutations during his eight years in office – more than 137 this year alone – and more than his three predecessors combined.

Here are the figures for neighboring states since 1996, when Huckabee took office (and keep in mind the population of these states is nearly 20 times ours):

-Louisiana – 213.
-Mississippi – 24.
-Missouri – 79.
-Oklahoma – 178.
-Tennessee – 32.
-Texas – 98 (in-cludes 36 inmates released because they were convicted on drug charges with planted evidence).

Total: 624 vs. Huckabee's 703.

Governors in neighboring states almost never grant killers clemency, while Huckabee has commuted the sentences of a dozen murderers.

(snip)

Governors in the states we studied grant clemencies only on special occasions, such as when they leave office. Last January, after Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, lost his re-election bid, he issued 16 clemencies, and there was a huge outcry. That's how many Huckabee averages per month.

By contrast, Haley Barbour, Mississippi's new Republican governor, has issued no clemencies all year, nor has Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Louisiana's new governor, a Democrat.

In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, has issued no clemencies since he took office in January 2003.

The REAL Mike Huckabee