Presidential Pardons
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-12-05/presidential-pardons
The U.S. Constitution gives presidents the power to grant clemency to convicted criminals. This usually takes the form of a pardon or a reduction in the length of a sentence. It's seen as a way to redress injustices that can occur in any legal system. But the process has been criticized for being too subjective and too secretive. An investigative reporting team examined presidential pardons over the past decade. Among their just-released conclusions: white pardon applicants are overwhelmingly favored over minorities. The Justice Department's pardons office denies that race is a factor. Guest host Susan Page will talk with a panel of experts about the allegations and whether changes should be made in the way presidents choose whom to forgive.
Guests
Dafna Linzer
senior reporter, ProPublica.
Margaret Colgate Love
lawyer representing applicants for presidential pardons and sentence commutations; U.S. Pardon attorney (1990-1997).
Chris Bartolomucci
attorney in private practice; as former associate counsel to the president, 2001-2003, he assisted the president with pardon applications.
Governor Robert Ehrlich Jr.
former Republican governor of Maryland (2003-2007); partner in the law firm King & Spalding.
Serena Nunn
a legal assistant in a Georgia public defenders’ office; she is seeking a presidential pardon for a 1989 drug conviction.
Comments
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Eviction Tuesday? Or ten days after?
Election 2013... will help the unemployed(and soon to be new felons)-
thanks for service now go beg?
After lifetime service and helping others... is ANY part of society non-dysfunctional anymore???
OCCUPY
Did they compare the number of applications by race compared to the number of pardons by race? Is there a difference in the number of applications based on race? Do white convicts apply for pardons more than black convicts? Is there is difference in the types of crimes by race? Is there any correlation in pardons by types of crimes?
I am not at all surprised by these findings. Our justice system is extremely racist, agist, and classist.
The whiter you are, the older you are, and the higher income you have, the better outcome/shorter prison term you serve.
Nor am I surprised, at all, ditto.
I have read the stats and heard the comment that certain factors were controlled for. What I can't see is the statistical significance. Within what margin of error is there a 99% probability that we are not just seeing statistical variance? I probably didn't ask that right, but ...
Race does play a part. If it plays one in arrest, conviction and time served, it does when it comes to pardons. Here, in Cleveland, the Plain Dealer scoffed at black people who complained about the injustices in the system. That we believed blacks are given more time for less crime than white people It was proven, definitively. One case involves a white multiple offender has served no jail time and not received a felony record for dealing and multiple arrests, He received drug treatment for all arrests, including weapons possession. A black kid, same age, received 3 years for having one rock of cocaine on his person, no record. Race has nothing to do with it? Suffice it to say, the PD was flabbergasted but nothing has been done about it.
the programm was jammed in area code 22943 from 10:28-10:40 am EDT
She explained it clear enough for a 5 yr old. Same crime. Same condition. Same age. Same charges. Same back ground. White received pardon. Black did not. What is so hard about that. It never ceases to amaze me how white people become disfunctionally illiterate, deaf and dumb(not mute) when it comes to blatant racism in this country.
Ehrlich is not the current governor of Maryland. He should not be called "Governor" nor should the title continue in front of his name without the word "Former" used.
eltaylor
Baltimore, Maryland
I was glad to learn that Bush was so squeaky clean after the corruption of the Clinton Administration, I'm sure there was nothing political about the very hands-off pardon of Scooter Libby. Funny how often that bias towards middle class whites kicks in, thos low-key, non-reoffending suburban dads like Nixon, Marc Rich, Libby et all keep benefitting from this inexplicable, impossible-to-understand bias.
Great conversation! Thank you for hosting this panal and well wishes for the guest seeking a pardon. She makes rehabilitation seem like a real possibility, not merely a pipe dream. Much, much respect to her.
Now for my question-
As a Virginian, I am often almost TOO proud of my state but, to counter that, what embarasses me is the high number of Capital Punishments we have. I am curious if there is a correlation between capital punishment and it's opposite, pardons? Particilarly for those states with the highest # of death penalties?
And a sincere thank you to Gov. Erlich, I believe there is
as much gravity to the decision making process to
forgive as there is to silence forever. Thank you for your pardons.
Ashlea N. Smith
Great show! As Margaret, one of the panelists, said, it's not surprising but it's shocking. The people at DOJ should begin to look at themselves seriously rather than insist it's race-blind so that we the public can be reassured that they're working for the public and do have public welfare as their goal. This point has nothing to do with the question of whether pardons are justified. The point here is -- if they're going to do it, they should be interested in doing it right.
I read the Washington Post article. Their statistics were impressive but not surprising. Why should we be surprised? Other studies have found pervasive race bias in our justice system. Why would the Pardons Office be the exception? I do find surprising that "shock and disbelief" are being expressed. Hopefully, that energy will be directed to fixing the problem, rather than in attempting to discredit or minimize unpleasant findings, as often happens.
1-) Study results were not inconsistent with the rest of the justice system, despite its higher degree of public scrutiny and advocacy.
2-) Secrecy and cultures immune to public accountability are never good in democracies, save perhaps for national security. They make it possible for injustices and abuses to occur undetected. Everywhere else in the justice system, it has been transparency, not opaqueness, to public, press, and advocates that best protected fairness.
3-) It is not possible to eliminate the applicant's race; it is available or easily deduced from too many sources. Persisting becomes a wink-and-nod game providing cover for bogus claims of non-discrimination; preventing access to information that is known to evaluators but not acknowledged; precluding collection and analysis of statistics that would allow evaluation of performance; and depriving their White House superiors of information that influenced the formulation of recommendations. (continued)
(End):
4-) Prosecutors prosecute. Thus, prosecutorial bias. Their aim is to demonstrate, in detail, just how depraved and mendacious the accused is, and deserving of punishment. When one is a hammer, one tends to see nails, akin to the referral bias in medicine. Although prosecutors may prosecute, they never determine guilt, or dictate sentence. In service of fairness, that is left to to judges and juries not engaged in a high-stakes collision with the defendant. Neither should they make the decisions regarding pardons. By vocation and training, prosecutors epitomize the accuser. Forgiveness? Rehabilitation? Might as well ask the ex-wife.
5-) President Obama should assign pardon recommendations to an independent commission, with membership similar to that suggested in the Post article. The best protection against injustice and discrimination is the light of day. All relevant statistics should be meticulously kept, and made public. Records of indictments, trials, and sentences are public documents. The worst damage to privacy has already been done. Ignorance is not protection; and nothing scatters roaches quite like turning the lights on in dark rooms.
While Bush got "Scooter" off the hook for perjury, that is only the tip of the iceberg in people in positions of power getting off easy for their crimes.
61st District Court Corruption.com shows how police and court records show clearly that a judge, prosecutor, and police officer perjured and fixed a citizen's trial to hide the fact the court denied him due process of law.
The 61st Circuit Court over looked admissable evidense of the GRPD's own Internal Affairs Report to let the judge, prosecutor, and cop off. Meanwhile, the same Circuit Court judge sentenced a black lady to 1 1/2 to 30 years in prison for perjury to "set the example"!