Mike Huckabee Granted Clemency To Man Wanted For Questioning In Ambush That Killed 4 Cops

[Me.]

“(HuffPost)— A convicted felon granted clemency nine years ago by former Arkansas Governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is wanted for questioning in the shooting deaths of four police officers in Washington state.

Maurice Clemmons, the man wanted for questioning, has been convicted of five felonies in Arkansas and has been charged with eight felonies in Washington state.

The Seattle Times spoke to the prosecuting attorney in Arkansas who opposed Huckabee's clemency for Clemmons:

"This is the day I've been dreading for a long time," Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski County said Sunday night when informed that Clemmons was being sought in connection to the killings...

Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child.” …cont…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/29/multiple-police-officers-_n_373119.html

[cliffordu]

1. Holy Fucking shit.

[Ian David]

2. I bet he let him out because he found Jesus in prison! n/t

[saltpoint]

20. Hi, Ian David. You may be right. There is this disturbing reference in

the coverage from --


http://arkansastimes.com/

-- about "intercessions by ministers."

Kinda creepy theocratic bullshit-wise if you ask me.

[Ian David]

3. In some cases, prosecutors say, evangelical leaders attested that a prisoner had found Jesus...

"None of the prosecutors were ever told why Huckabee felt compelled to have a hand in freeing so many prisoners, though all of them speculate that his deeply religious nature led to a strong belief in repentance and forgiveness. In some cases, prosecutors say, evangelical leaders attested that a prisoner had found Jesus and that seemed to influence the governor's thoughts."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/29/multiple-police-officers-_n_373119.html

[Cha]

7. And that is the Trouble with

that.

Who hasn't resorted to it when caught in a sex scandal.

[Me.]

9. The Next Question Is What Will You Betcha Do With This

She and Huck aren't friends yet she claims to be evangelical to the core and therefore must believe as he does.

[Cha]

10. If clemmons is the killer..

my thought was that she'll be filled with glee.

I haven't seen why they think it might be clemmons..whoever it was is insane.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Its all over but the shouting...Huck is fucked.

[safeinOhio]

5. be fun to see how Rush spins this as

Obamas fault. He will find a way.

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. Well, the suspect is African American

That's usually all Mush needs to connect it to Obama.

[Ikonoklast]

6. But, but, but....Jeebus told him everything was going to be fine with this guy!

Jailhouse conversions aren't worth a bucket of warm spit, and that rube Huckleberry fell for an old routine.

And people died because of his stupidity.


He's fucked.

[lapfog_1]

8. Oopsie, Mikey got Dukaka all over himself. - n/t

[951-Riverside]

15. He's got a Willie on his hands n/t

[Swamp Rat]

12. Well, if the killer turns out to be Maurice Clemmons...

[saltpoint]

17. Lacerating. Coarse and vulgar and lacerating, and damned effective.

The political tricks of the Republicans come back to haunt them.

The Pukes dish it out without a thought. Let's see how they take it.

[cliffordu]

19. Well.......

:rofl:

[moobu2]

13. Nah, it's an ACORN conspiracy to discredit Huckabee.

Fux news is working on the story as I type this post.

[Contrary1]

14. It's not Huckabee's fault!

So sez the Huckster himself:

"The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State. The murder of any individual is profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.

Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers."

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?fa=News.View&News_id=a9c58e43-9675-4da0-9567-674110678ef8&Label_id=&Year=&Month=

Nope no "I" in this statement. Maybe he can claim he had a "wide stance" when it came to granting clemency. Worked for Larry.

[patrice]

16. Wasn't there another qestionable Huckabee parole or pardon or something of that

nature? - There was a story that came out during the campaign wasn't there? I'll have to go look for it.

[grasswire]

21. yes, what was that?

It came to my mind immediately.

[patrice]

22. Seems like there was at least the appearance of a quid pro quo.

Need to look into this.

One cop killer would be bad enough, but another criminal on the loose because of Huckabee would indeed be the end of his candidacy in 2012.

[Justitia]

26. yes, he granted clemency (or commuted?) the sentence of a man who later raped & killed a woman.

Wayne DuMond

At the time he let him out of jail, the man had already confessed to murder in a different case.

He also had a history of rapes / sexual assaults.

Huckabee let him go anyway.

Then he went on to rape & kill a woman.

I remember several discussions on DU about it.

One of his rape victims was a distant relation to Bill Clinton.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

18. That's why there should be no parole, clemency, concurrent sentences or pardons.

:sarcasm:

[happyslug]

24. Scalia says the US Supreme Court must uphold a death sentence of an Innocent person....

Scalia says the US Supreme Court must uphold a death sentence of an Innocent person for it is the job of the EXECUTIVE Branch to correct such errors by the use of parole, clemency, concurrent sentences or pardons. Scalia's rationale is that the Courts MUST apply the law, and all the law requires is you received Due Process. If it is later found out you are innocent, the solution is a parole, clemency, concurrent sentences or pardons NOT anything the Courts can do.


Sorry, just pointing out your position has been rejected by the Supreme Court for it has NOT authority to correct wrong Judgments UNLESS it is a violation of Due Process, no Due Process violation, and the trial was fair and followed the laws of the land, you have no grounds to file an appeal, for the law provides the solution in such situations in the form of parole, clemency, concurrent sentences or pardons. You may disagree with that but that is how our system of law and criminal justice system is set up.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

27. I guess I should have added the sarcasm tag.

[happyslug]

23. Remember Huckabee pardoned Maurice Clemmons from a 95 year sentence for Robbery

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/29/multiple-police-officers-_n_373119.html

Maurice Clemmons was only 17 years of age when he was sentenced to 95 years imprisonment for "aggravated robbery", NOT Murder in 1989. I have to assume violence was involved but apparently no one died. He served till the pardon was granted in 2000. Sorry, a 95 years sentence for something less then Kidnapping, Rape or Murder is a little to long even for me. Subsequent to the Pardon (Which apparently only converted the sentence to Parole instead of Imprisonment) he violated the terms of his Parole and was arrested in 2001. He again was released in 2004, but through no action of Huckabee (Through the Pardon must have been a factor, apparently Maurice Clemmons was just sentenced for the Parole Violation and that appears to be for only three years.

Maurice Clemmons subsequently moved to the State of Washington, seems to have committed several other crimes in the State of Washington and then this killing of three police officers.

Sorry, on its face, a 95 year sentence for a 17 year old seems to harsh to me, thus I can see Huckabee's decision to pardon Maurice Clemmons. The real issue is why only a three year sentence for a subsequent parole violation and why no subsequent parole violation hearings? I know Maurice Clemmons moved to Washington State but that occurs all the time and the states will transfer Parole duties between each other. I.e. you violate Parole in another state that state will gladly send you back to the State where you were sentence to serve time for the parole violation.

The big question is which way do you want to err? Do you want someone who will NEVER commit another crime, stay in Jail for a Crime he did as a Prisoner? Or are you willing to accept that situation so that something like this does not happen? I lean to what Huckabee did, less then 9% of the people he pardoned committed another crime, which means he was right over 91% of the time. Yes, he was wrong in the remaining 9%, but do keep those 9% in you also have to keep the 91% in? Which way do you want to err? I have to say it I agree with Huckabee, to err on the side of leaving people out who will commit another crime, as opposed to erring on the side of keeping in Prison people who will NEVER commit another crime.

[TheWebHead]

25. Gregoire doesn't come out looking very good either

though I hate that this tragedy has so quickly turned political as it hasn't even been 24 hours.

[notesdev]

28. When a guy with a record like that goes on a rampage

it SHOULD turn political. It is absolutely a political issue in its essence - the reason we have governments is to protect the people from this kind of thing. With at least 13 felonies under his belt - apparently all violent - it is the duty of the state to keep him from further harming innocent people. There should be repercussions in both states against those responsible for allowing this crime wave to continue.

[paulsby]

29. and to add insult to injury

he is currently wanted in arkansas for pending cases AND in WA and was bailed out for 150k on charges of assault on a police officer (punch in the face) and rape of a child.

assuming the "person of interest" who we are talking about, is in fact the shooter

[Raine]

30. Stick a fork in Huck

he's done.

[Me.]

31. Kick