Huckabee's gubernatorial pardons under scrutiny Dec 11, 2007
"I just thought that the power of executive clemency was being exercised on the wrong folks," said Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, a Democrat who also campaigned against Huckabee. As for DuMond, the convicted rapist initially was sentenced to life plus 20 years for his conviction in the 1984 rape of Stevens when she was a teenager, but Tucker reduced the sentence to 39 1/2 years, making DuMond eligible for parole. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Crime)
* World News Quick Take Nov 29, 2007
Vice President Noli de Castro, who is leading a special mission to seek executive clemency for Marilou Ranario, said he had met with the victim's family and they had granted forgiveness. "We are not losing any hope because we have already paid blood money to the mother and the victim's four siblings," de Castro told local television. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Silent Injustice Nov 20, 2007
This seems like an area in which some prisoners would have to seek executive clemency. Other than that long shot, what other options exist when a person has a good case, but a judge or prosecutor block the path back into court. (Washington Post)
For ex-felons, fight for rights drags on Nov 13, 2007
Violent offenders, who have committed crimes such as aggravated stalking and manslaughter, must have their cases approved by Crist and Cabinet members who make up the state Board of Executive Clemency. Convicted murderers and sex offenders also are subject to a review. (Florida Today)
Politics of mercyPhilippine readers on the pardoning of ex-President Estrada Nov 3, 2007
Given all the allegations of corruption against Arroyo, I think that she is the wrong person to use the wisdom of executive clemency. It is not a question of whether it is right or wrong to pardon Estrada - she is the wrong person to do it. (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
Frank seeks pardon Oct 31, 2007
Neither Mr. Frank s application for executive clemency nor his follow-up correspondence to myself appears to indicate that he accepts personal responsibility for the crimes which he committed or the damage which was done pursuant to his crimes. Theisen went on the call Frank s ideas for employment with the Department of Corrections or the DNR extremely bad ideas. (Chippewa Falls Chippewa Herald, WI)
Estrada pardon signals Arroyo's weakness Oct 30, 2007
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she decided to grant the executive clemency in deference to the millions of Filipinos who continue to identify themselves with the deposed leader. "We are using the law, for what I see in my best light, as good for the greatest number," Arroyo said, in a speech before the Philippine Business Conference in announcing the decision. (Asia Times Online)
Estrada pardon weakens Arroyo's opposition in Philippines Oct 29, 2007
On the same day, looking ebullient as ever before a throng of supporters, the former movie star thanked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for granting him executive clemency, referring to her, for the first time since his ouster in 2001, as "President Arroyo.". Estrada, who after six years on trial was convicted last month of illegally amassing millions of dollars while president from 1998 to 2001, has always maintained that he did nothing wrong while in office. (International Herald Tribune)
Philippine Lawyers May Question Pardon of Joseph Estrada, Prosecutor Says Oct 27, 2007
Estrada, 70, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption on Sept. 12, was freed yesterday after his successor President Gloria Arroyo granted him executive clemency, citing his age and commitment not to seek public office, as she restored his ``civil liberties. . (Bloomberg -- Asia)
Filipino ex-president pardoned Oct 26, 2007
The executive clemency, he said, is in line with the government's policy to release inmates who are 70 or older ... "The executive clemency granted is a clear sign not of mercifulness on her part, but of weakness in her rule, and it smacks of political pragmatism, a survival instinct for her dying regime," said Prestoline Suyat, spokesman of the May First Movement, a labor group that was an important player in the anti-Estrada protests. (International Herald Tribune)
Philippine ex-president granted pardon Oct 26, 2007
Special Prosecutor Dennis Villaignacio, who is involved in Estrada's plunder case, vowed to challenge the executive clemency granted by President Arroyo to former president Joseph Estrada. Villaignacio said that according to the Constitution, Estrada is not eligible for pardon, an online report of national news network Abs-cbn said late Thursday. (Xinhuanet, China)
Former Philippine president pardoned Oct 25, 2007
"I hereby grant executive clemency to Joseph Ejercito," chief presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said on television, quoting Arroyo's order. "He is hereby restored to his civil and political rights.". (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Puno says Arroyo set to grant pardon to Estrada Oct 24, 2007
The Department of Justice will likely recommend to the President this week the granting of executive clemency to Estrada on condition that his assets would be forfeited as directed by the Sandiganbayan ... The legal requirements have to be satisfied Whats going to be asked is if executive clemency can be exercised ... Of course, if its final, then the executive clemency can be exercised already by the President, she told reporters. (Inquirer.net)
More of this story Oct 21, 2007
She and one other survived that day in December 1978, but two more, her grandmother and aunt didn t, and now the man convicted of their murders has been recommended for executive clemency by the state Parole Board. James W. Robinson, now 65, was convicted of two counts of capital murder by a Jefferson County Circuit Court jury in 1981, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Pine Bluff Commercial, AR)
Hearing to determine competency of 1982 killer Oct 13, 2007
Before the execution date, the Mexican consulate stepped in and filed a petition for a stay of execution with the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency. An attorney then visited Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Roberto Montiel, who had sentenced Villarreal to death 16 years earlier. (Nogales International, AZ)
Questions for Candidates Sep 25, 2007
What is your view of the pardon power and executive clemency. Should it be used frequently. (Fox News)
State Grants Clemency On 25-Year Sentence Sep 21, 2007
His case was heard in Tallahassee by the governor and state Cabinet sitting as the Board of Executive Clemency. Traditionally, inmates must serve one-third of their time before becoming eligible for the clemency process, but the clemency board last month approved a waiver allowing his case to be heard early. (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Also serving has fundraiser for agents' families Sep 8, 2007
"This penalty levied on these agents is excessive and ... they deserve the immediate exercise of your executive clemency powers," Feinstein and other senators told Bush in a letter. Soergel said letters to the president on their behalf have been a consolation to the family members, but there's been no results so far. (WorldNetDaily)
Ariz. Man Convicted In 2 Sexual Attacks Sep 8, 2007
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency paroled him eight years early in 2004. About a year later, police said, Goudeau started attacking again. (CBS News -- US)
Five years for drug offense Sep 6, 2007
The judge declined the defense request to allow further review of Jenkins' case by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency. The two juvenile victims were not present. (Benson San Pedro Valley News Sun, AZ)
more » Sep 4, 2007
A death row inmate from White County will have a hearing Friday on his application for executive clemency ... In Jones' application for executive clemency, he claimed significant mitigating circumstances concerning his background and mental illness were not presented at his trial. (Searcy Daily Citizen, AR)
Ark. death-row inmate to appear at clemency hearing Aug 17, 2007
The executive clemency process Nooner requested will have the parole board gather testimony and offer its recommendation to the governor. In March 1993, Stobaugh loaded clothes into a washing machine at a Little Rock coin-operated laundry. (Pine Bluff Commercial, AR)
Beach, advocates make final plea for freedom Aug 2, 2007
But unlike a three-day executive clemency hearing in June, which allowed attorneys to outline Beach's defense in painstaking detail, Wednesday's hearing before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole featured 14 character witnesses who emphasized Beach's moral integrity, and advocated his release from prison, calling his 100-year, no-parole sentence too severe ... The group, called Centurion Ministries, helped Beach appeal to the board for executive clemency or parole ... If the board recommends... (Missoulian, MT)
Former mayor says Poplar backs convicted murderer's release (592) Aug 2, 2007
DEER LODGE - A convicted murderer says he was tricked into giving a confession in 1983 and is asking that his 100-year sentence be reduced, to allow parole while he awaits a separate decision on an executive clemency request. Barry Beach, in prison for 23 years for the 1979 murder of 17-year-old Kim Nees in Poplar, was the focus of a hearing Wednesday featuring character witnesses. (Helena Independent Record)
Right hails Feinstein in border agent flap Jul 22, 2007
"That hearing confirmed the concerns raised by many members of the public: that this penalty levied on these agents is excessive and that they deserve the immediate exercise of your executive clemency powers,'' Feinstein and Cornyn wrote Bush. Feinstein's decision to seek clemency set the world of conservative blogs buzzing. Normally she is a ripe target on such sites for her support of gun control and abortion rights or her opposition to the Iraq war. But now the senator that these critics... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Politics)
SenateerasesLibbybattle Jul 21, 2007
Clinton was criticized after issuing more than 140 acts of executive clemency in his last few days in office. But cooler heads prevailed when both party leaders decided not to have the Clinton vote, and Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada simply asked that the Libby vote "be vitiated and stricken from the record.". (MSNBC -- Politics)
Feinstein's wrong on this Jul 21, 2007
Feinstein told Bush that the officers "deserve the immediate exercise of your Executive clemency powers." She thinks the sentences are a "serious miscarriage of justice."On Thursday, Bush stood with the prosecutor, jury and judge, saying he would make no promise to pardon the officers. "I know it's an emotional issue but people need to look at the facts," he said. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
No 'Promise' on Border Agent Pardons: Bush Jul 21, 2007
And calls for executive clemency have come from many Republican lawmakers. Former agents Ignacio Ramos and Alonso Compean are serving 11- and 12-year federal prison sentences, respectively, for the 2005 shooting. (Newsmax)
Bipartisan Plea to Commute Sentence of Border Agents Jul 20, 2007
In their letter to President Bush the next day, Feinstein and Leahy wrote, That hearing confirmed the concerns raised by many members of the public: that this penalty levied on these Agents is excessive and that they deserve the immediate exercise of your Executive clemency powers ... That hearing confirmed the concerns raised by many members of the public: that this penalty levied on these Agents is excessive and that they deserve the immediate exercise of your Executive clemency powers. (Townhall.com)
Commutation for the Border Agents Jul 20, 2007
This is wrong, and it is a case where only an act of executive clemency can counterbalance the excesses of the criminal-justice system ... This is wrong, and it is a case where only an act of executive clemency can counterbalance the excesses of the criminal-justice system. (Townhall.com)
Ex-Border Agents' Supporters Hopeful After Senate Probe Jul 20, 2007
John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote in a letter to the White House that a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week into the prosecution and jailing of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean had "confirmed the concerns raised by many members of the public: that this penalty levied on these agents is excessive and that they deserve the immediate exercise of your executive clemency powers.". The two men were sentenced to 11 and 12 years, respectively, for shooting and wounding Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila in... (CNSnews.com)
Death row inmate's supporters make new case Jul 11, 2007
"The power of executive clemency exists as a fail-safe against error and allows for the consideration of evidence that the courts were unable or unwilling to review," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "We ask the parole board to fulfill its role as the final safeguard and stop the state from taking the life of a man who might be innocent.". Jeffrey Sapp said he testified at Davis' grand jury that Davis told him he had shot Officer Mark Allen MacPhail to death. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
First South Dakota execution in 60 years set for Wednesday Jul 10, 2007
Rick Olson wrote on Jul 9, 2007 7:34 PM:" Although in accordance with state law and the Constitution of South Dakota, the governor has sole authority to grant executive clemency, Mike Rounds would be committing political suicide if he were to intervene once again in the Elijah Page case. Rounds, who is term limited, has aspirations of taking his political career to the next level. Perhaps it's a run for Congress (either the U.S. House seat or the U.S. Senate). If Rounds were to bow to pressure... (Rapid City Journal, SD)
What's wrong with this question? Jul 8, 2007
"Executive clemency," in the Justice Department's officialese, embraces both pardons (the crime is wiped out) and commutations (the sentence is reduced). Commutation isn't a quasi-pardon; it's a different category of clemency. (Boston Globe)
More July News Jul 8, 2007
Grant of Executive Clemency. Statement by the President on Executive Clemency for Lewis Libby. (White House News Releases)
Dems: Selective Outrage Jul 8, 2007
"The exercise of executive clemency is inherently controversial. The reason the framers of our Constitution vested this broad power in the Executive Branch was to assure that the president would have the freedom to do what he deemed to be the right thing, regardless of how unpopular a decision might be.". When I reminded my Democratic friends of Clinton's position on "executive clemency" they moved their lips around a good bit like Nero Wolfe and then said, "Well, this is different.". (Townhall.com)
President Bush Modifies Policy In Clemency For Libby Jul 8, 2007
" Bush's attitude toward clemency may have been influenced by a pardon early in his governorship. In 1995, he pardoned a man with an eight-year-old conviction for marijuana possession so he could work as a constable. A few months later, the man was arrested for stealing cocaine from a police station. Austin D. Sarat, a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College and author of "Mercy on Trial," a study of executive clemency, said it was hard to reconcile Bush's actions as... (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Dick Morris, Eileen McGann: Clintons' Hypocrisy on... Jul 7, 2007
Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton are absolutely outraged that President Bush granted executive clemency to Scooter Libby, recently convicted of making false statements under oath ... One would have thought that Hillary and Bill Clinton wouldn t touch the Libby executive clemency issue with a ten-foot pole for lots of reasons ... Once the clemency was announced, Hillary immediately attacked President Bush, saying, "This commutation sends the clear signal that in this... (Fox News)
Wooten: Tough being a cop Jul 6, 2007
Dear Getalife @ 12:43, the mirror of your post appeared in Tarantos column Tuesday afternoon: In August 1999 President Clinton granted executive clemency to 16 members of FALN, the Puerto Rican terror group behind some 130 bombings, including one that killed four people at New York s Fraunces Tavern in 1975. Even the ultraliberal New York Times looked askance: To be sure, an American President has an absolute power to pardon. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Depends on meaning of 'unpardonable' Jul 6, 2007
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), over the question of executive clemency, with each side accusing the other of unpardonable acts. Twice on Thursday the White House challenged criticism that the Clintons had directed at President Bush's commutation Monday of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence. (Los Angeles Times)
Clintons trade jabs with White House Jul 6, 2007
over the question of executive clemency, with each side accusing the other of unpardonable acts. Twice yesterday the White House challenged criticism from the former president and Senator Clinton, a New York Democrat, directed at President Bush for commuting the prison sentence of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr.. (SunSpot.net)
Commuting Libby’s sentence sends the wrong message Jul 5, 2007
But it seems to us that the message the president sends with this act of executive clemency is to tell the nation that if you do the crime, you do the time unless you are powerful and well placed in government. That s no message to send. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Commutation Situation Jul 4, 2007
In a statement of Executive Clemency, he commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney s former Chief of Staff. Libby had been convicted in March of perjury and obstruction in the investigation of who leaked the identity of former CIA employee Valerie Plame. (Human Events Online)
Grant of Executive Clemency by President Bush Jul 3, 2007
WASHINGTON, July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the White House: GRANT OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment, 2 years' supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $400 was imposed on June... (PR Newswire)
Bush spurned lobbying, Justice in Libby decision Jul 3, 2007
"Executive clemency is the president's exclusive power under the Constitution, and there are precedents for exercising that power without going through the pardon attorney process," Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said. One senior administration official said Bush made his decision quickly on Monday after hearing that the U.S. Court of Appeals had refused to keep Libby out of jail while his appeal ran its course. (FOX59, IN)
Statement by President... Jul 3, 2007
Statement by the President On Executive Clemency for Lewis Libby ... Statement by the President On Executive Clemency for Lewis Libby. (The Drudge Report)
*Clinton: My Reasons for the Pardons... Jul 3, 2007
The exercise of executive clemency is inherently controversial ... The remainder of the pardons and commutations were granted for a wide variety of fact-based reasons, but the common denominator was that the cases, like that of Patricia Hearst, seemed to me deserving of executive clemency. (The Drudge Report)
Grant of Executive Clemency... Jul 3, 2007
Grant of Executive Clemency ... Grant of Executive Clemency. (The Drudge Report)
Bush spares Libby from prison term Jul 3, 2007
Bush granted executive clemency to Libby just hours after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the former aide's plea to remain free while he appealed his conviction. In a late-afternoon statement, released shortly after Bush's return from a Maine summit with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, the president called the commutation "an appropriate exercise" of his powers under the Constitution. (SunSpot.net)
Text of Bush Clemency Order for Libby -AP Jul 3, 2007
Grant of Executive Clemency. By the President of the United States of America. (Guardian Unlimited)
Execute Him or Study Him? Jul 2, 2007
"As long as he's alive he is available for psychological research, examinations and evaluations, which could in the future prevent a person from becoming so fully mis-oriented as to commit a crime that Mr. Schwab stands guilty of today," Titusville attorney Kenneth Studstill wrote in a petition to be reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency. Studstill wants Schwab's death sentence commuted to life in prison. (Fox News)
Killer Asks To Live As Case Study Jul 2, 2007
" she said. "Where else can they go. " State Attorney Norman Wolfinger said Schwab can still serve science in death. "We have sharks and whales wash up on the beach all the time, and scientists can study them," he said. "I have no objection if they want to study him after he receives his injection. (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Parole board sifts arguments in Beach case Jun 29, 2007
Since Beach's executive clemency hearing wrapped up in Deer Lodge earlier this month, board members have slogged through hours of conflicting testimony and hundreds of case documents ... Attorneys on both sides called a total of 24 witnesses to address Beach's appeal for executive clemency, which could come in the form of a pardon or commutation of his sentence. (Missoulian, MT)
Convicted KCK murderer applies for clemency Jun 19, 2007
man serving a life sentence for murder has applied for executive clemency, which could lead to a pardon by the governor ... Gorman told the Kansan on Monday that during his nearly three decades in law enforcement, only about a dozen people he convicted had gone on to seek executive clemency, and none of them had been granted clemency ... Brett Peterson, an official with the Lansing Correctional Facility, where Sperry is housed, said an inmate applying for executive clemency is a rare occurrence.... (Kansas City Kansan, KS)
Plea for clemency - Barry Beach: ‘I did not kill Kim Nees' Jun 16, 2007
The board gave state prosecutors and Beach's defense team one week to submit their closing arguments in writing, and said a clemency decision will be forwarded by Aug. 1 to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who has the final say in granting executive clemency ... Nearly 30 witnesses traveled to the Montana State Prison to testify at Beach's three-day executive clemency hearing, hailing from Poplar, Nevada, California and Louisiana. (Missoulian, MT)
Plea for clemency / Beach team bolsters case/ Racicot defends conviction Jun 15, 2007
Centurion has since helped Beach appeal to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for executive clemency, which means a pardon or commutation of his sentence. Assistant Attorneys General Tammy Plubell and Mike Wellenstein lean on Beach's signed confession as the most tenable example of his guilt. (Missoulian, MT)
Credibility questions open Beach clemency hearing Jun 14, 2007
Barry Beach talks with his attorney, Peter Camiel, during Beach's executive clemency hearing Wednesday at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge ... The group, called Centurion Ministries, helped Beach appeal to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for executive clemency, which means a pardon or commutation of his sentence. (Missoulian, MT)
Barry Beach gets chance to make his case before clemency board Jun 10, 2007
This week, in a classroom at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, the lurid details surrounding Nees' death will be resurrected as dozens of witnesses dredge up painful memories and officials with ties to the case assemble for an executive clemency hearing before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole ... The group, called Centurion Ministries, helped Beach appeal to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for executive clemency, which means a pardon or commutation of his sentence. (Missoulian, MT)
Execution stay for Comer denied May 18, 2007
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency and The Arizona Supreme Court both refused to consider a last-minute appeal for Death Row inmate Robert Comer, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Tuesday. A Tucson-based attorney for the anti-death-penalty group, the Arizona Capital Representation Project, filed a motion for stay of execution with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, claiming that Comer's case should be reconsidered on the grounds that he may not have received a constitutional... (AZCentral -- News)
Ex-inmate got restitution for wrongful imprisonment in Miss. May 11, 2007
I well remember Gov. White - a roly-poly 300-pounder whose heart was as big as his rear-end - telling me as soon as he read the story, "I'm going to grant that man executive clemency.". As fate would have it, later that day, White tumbled down some steps and wound up with a leg fracture. (The Clarion-Ledger)
Arizona death row inmate to sit out clemency hearing May 8, 2007
The hearing for Robert Charles Comer, 50, is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. in the office of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency in Phoenix. Clemency hearings typically offer death row inmates their last chance to seek mercy. (FOX 11, AZ)
New Nickname For Governor Apr 8, 2007
Yet here is Chain Gang, talking to his fellow Cabinet members, who were sitting as the state Executive Clemency Board, last week: "Justice delayed is justice denied, and people are waiting. It is significant that we visit this issue this week - this holy week, a week that is all about forgiveness. The debt for a person's wrongs can be paid in full. People can be forgiven by their Creator.". Florida is one of three states in the nation (Virginia and Kentucky are the other two) that does not... (The Ledger)
Felons can regain rights more easily Apr 6, 2007
Attorney General Bill McCollum cast the lone dissenting vote of the four-member group, which acted as the Board of Executive Clemency in taking up the rule at Crist's urging and making the historic change. NEW. (The Palm Beach Post)
Clemency board votes to automatically restore felons' rights Apr 6, 2007
Acting as the Board of Executive Clemency, Crist and the Cabinet voted 3-1 to end a Jim Crow era policy and restore civil rights to nonviolent felons. Felons rights. (The Palm Beach Post)
Many Felons To Regain Rights Apr 6, 2007
I have worked to ensure that criminals are held accountable for their actions. Very strict sentences. (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
