For reasons Grits couldn't begin to explain, President Barack Obama has
among the stingiest records among presidents when it comes to pardons,
commutations and clemency decisions in general - so bad Grits has suggested it compares unfavorably to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who at least hasn't let his executive power on that score completely atrophy.
Late last year P.S.
Ruckman tallied up Barack Obama's sorry total, and recently he calculated
that President Obama ranks near or at the bottom both in both the number of
months in his term during which he granted clemency (3) and the longest
number of months without issuing clemency at all (24). So far, Obama has issued 22 mostly meaningless pardons, typically given to older folks (average age 61) for petty, long ago crimes, plus one sentence
commutation since taking office. He's on track to grant fewer pardons and/or sentence commutations (by far) than any president at least since World War II, all but completely ignoring this already withered and decrepit constitutional function. Meanwhile, here's the impressively long list (pdf) of requests for commutations of sentences President Obama has denied since taking office.
Grits doubts this will become a partisan campaign issue, but when it comes to exercising the clemency power, one could justly refer to the President as "Obama the Merciless."
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14 comments:
They're saving all the pardons up for each other.
If he did pardon people, it would become a partisan campaign issue. Just like many of us were "soft on terror" when we didn't want to invade Iraq, he would be "soft on crime" if he issued a bunch of pardons.
Rage
And yet another reason to vote for Mitt Romney!
It's not surprising that Obama would be stingier than an official perceived as farther to the right. If Obama exercises mercy he is subject to being hammered as soft on crime. Whereas if Gov. Perry does, where can the right turn. So Nixon had far better opportunity to open the doors to China than a Dem. would have.
If it seems I'm being apologetic for Obama, well, I am!
I can't imagine anyone who is not rich voting for Mitt Romney. The man is an out of touch idiot.
@ 7:26pm....
how many can you name that are in touch, D and R?
I predict that Obama will continue being "stingy" with pardons until he is about to leave office (whether that's in Jan 2013 or 2017). Then once he has nothing to lose, he'll issue last minute pardons to a whole bunch of his pals in ACORN for election fraud, welfare fraud, and so forth, plus at least a few terrorists like Bill Ayers.
Anyone but me notice a certain "theme" in the names of those denied?
Either you stand for justice or you don't. Obama does not. God help him if thinks there's any justification for injustice.
@8:37 Word. I noticed the "theme". Maybe offenders with Spanish-origin sir names are more likely to have what their attorney's think is a better chance for a pardon because their case was way messed up because of a language or citizenship issue or something. More info is needed but it is interesting.
@5/03 2:10, do you happen to know Romney's pardon record as Massachusetts governor? Just curious.
@ 2:10/8:45, I just looked it up and it turns out Romney didn't grant a single pardon as Governor. So this is beginning to look like the "No Mercy" election, in more ways than one.
JDG, do you have any basis for that prediction besides partisanship and cynicism? Between Clinton's political pardons and Bush I's pardons of Iran-Contra folk, I don't think this gets to be an R/D issue anymore.
The truth is more average folk need access to the constitutional clemency process. The celeb/patron pardons stand out all the more because the process is otherwise virtually dormant, serving at most a symbolic function, usually around Christmas, with a few minor offenders pardoned like so many Thanksgiving turkeys spared the knife. Clemency should be MORE widely avaialable, not derided with bipartisan sneers. I say "bipartisan" because both sides attack the other over it, so IMO it's equal-opportunity cowardice/cynicism to attack executives for active clemency, especially preemptively as you've done with no basis but mean-spirited speculation.
With Obama, you have the appearance vs the reality.
1:16, have you ever MET any other politicians? That's virtually definitional, for all of us, but especially pols.
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