On his radio show today, Huckabee again addressed the slayings of four police officers,* placing blame both with his own State's system and the government of Washington.Sure, blame everybody else. However, if the justice system sentenced Maurice Clemmons to 97 years and you released him after 11, then I'm not sure how you get to implicate the justice system.
Because it sounds to me like the justice system got this one right.
Judge Marion Humphrey, Pulaski County, Arkansas:Of course. It also explains why U.S. prisons are jammed with non-violent drug offenders and why simple possession (sans any intent to sell) of eight grams of marijuana is a felony. Moreover, 'It shows he is a conservative with compassion,' as some approving observers are saying of Mike Huckabee's parole decisions.
We're a country that says we believe in mercy. This is the Advent season. And one of the things about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is that He promoted mercy. And that is a part of the makeup of some of us who serve on the benches, who serve on parole boards, who serve in governors' offices.
If Huckabee's presidential aspirations are in tatters, he could always move to Ozaukee County and take a run at the State Supreme Court. He should get a lot of support from Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. They were always big on the "pro-criminal" angle.
* BurnabyDude wrote:Typical bleeding heart, left-coast socialist Canadian.
The suspect was armed and dangerous + he didn't stop on command. As far as I see it, just dessert — and good riddance too. No chance of being commuted by an opportunist governor or being paroled by some idiotic board.
7 comments:
How many people are put in jail as teenagers and are granted clemency? A handful? Many?
If this guy had not been such a wackaloon, we would have made nothing of it, just like nothing is made of the ones who are released and don't go on to be total nutcases.
I can't fault Huckabee for doing what he thought was right, and I also can't help but think that if he was anything but a conservative, the liberals wouldn't be having a field day with this issue. However it's a nice way to scuttle his 2012 presidential hopes. Mind you, if you don't like him, be careful who may replace him (sort of like most Republicans are probably regretting screwing Hillary Clinton in the primaries).
I think there are a ton of egregious errors made AFTER he was granted clemency. How this guy was able to rape a child and punch a cop in the face, and get released on bail is beyond me. That's not Huckabee's fault, is it?
Hey stranger. I'm not saying any of it is Huckabee's fault, but the scrambling to abdicate from responsibility is remarkable. You want the big jobs, then you better take the big heat.
We had a couple of recent Supreme Court candidates here who were tarred as "liberal activists" for deciding some cases in favor of the rights of criminal defendants. I don't recall either of them trying to shift the blame or the responsibility away from themselves and the decisions they made.
Much more Huckabee in this article:
http://www.salon.com/news/mike_huckabee/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2009/11/30/mike_huckabee
You want the big jobs, then you better take the big heat.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. I haven't hit the airwaves to see what sort of backtracking is occurring, or if he's so much as expressed his condolences to the affected families. One would have thought that while this loser -- by which I mean Maurice Clemmons ;) -- was still in Arkansas, someone could have followed up on the guy to see how unstable he was and have him locked away again ... for reals.
The whole thing is tragic, and it's obvious our attempts to rehabilitate criminals isn't, in many cases, working as intended. Is it too much to ask that the entire criminal system get overhauled?
It's definitely not an easy problem. Once you start tightening things up again -- with three strikes rules, mandatory minimum sentencing, more rigorous rules of supervision, etc. -- you risk overcompensating for the folks who really do merit a second chance and really will get their shit together and turn themselves around.
But this guy's rap sheet was all violent offenses, and there obviously must have been some good reasons why he got 97 years.
And, I almost hate to say it, but the judge's talk of Jesus leads me to believe this character was playing some in the review system for suckers.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the reference to Jesus talk. Just as talking of a personal conversion experience will help a politician win the evangelical vote (see George W. Bush), so it will help a convicted criminal win a pardon from an evangelical Governor. Huckabee is sincere in his beliefs (far more than G.W. Bush). I believe he is an honest and honorable man. However, it is a bad idea to let church leaders run secular governments. Treating criminals differently depending on whether they belong to the Jesus club is just one example of why.
Huckabee's Christ Delusion.
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