Also, for those interested, and I realize it's not the hottest topic I cover on this blog, the Dallas News today published an op ed I wrote criticizing Christmastime clemency for treating pardons like Christmas gifts instead of the pivotal and neglected check and balance on abuses in the justice system anticipated by the Founding Fathers. (Related: See similar commentary on federal clemency, or the lack thereof, published the same day in the Washington Post.)
Stay safe tonight and have a great new year.
See recent Grits posts on clemecy:
- Perry granted 3.5% of clemency requests
- Institutional prosecutorial bias limits federal pardon recommendations from DOJ
- Perry mostly ignores advice of parole board appointees on clemency
- Christmastime clemency is a joke, but pardons could be meaningful remedy for 'government overreach'
- How the Grinch stole clemency: Christmastime pardons trivialize process
Good op. ed. in DMN. Congrats, Scott.
ReplyDeleteRev. Charles
First, thanks for this blog. I found it recently, and it has helped me in several ways. Keep up the good work. The absurdity of the Roddy Pippin case- along with the sheer meanness of the DA's and judges involved- got me involved in criminal justice awareness. Awareness UTMB's shockingly haphazard care of inmates followed soon after as we battled to force them to treat his Type 1 diabetes, just to keep him alive through his illegally stacked state jail sentences. Add the info from this and other blogs, and I now have a passion for reform of our horrific prison system. Thanks for that! Injustice degrades us all. I was raised to believe that we Americans are better than that.
ReplyDelete