Posted on 01/17/2017 6:05:36 PM PST by SMGFan
The last imprisoned member of the Puerto Rican independence group that terrorized New York in the 1970s will be a free man in May — 20 years ahead of schedule. President Obama granted a commutation Tuesday to FALN mastermind Oscar López Rivera, who’s served 35 years of his 55-year sentence
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
There are people who deserve pardons. They tend not to be terrorists, armed robbers, drug dealers with violent histories, and other Obama voters, but we all know why Obama is taking care of the people he has chosen.
Because the FF knew it could be a necessary thing.
From Wiki:
All federal pardon petitions are addressed to the President, who grants or denies the request. Typically, applications for pardons are referred for review and non-binding recommendation by the Office of the Pardon Attorney, an official of the United States Department of Justice. The percentage of pardons and reprieves granted varies from administration to administration; however, fewer pardons have been granted since World War II.[23]
The pardon power was controversial from the outset; many Anti-Federalists remembered examples of royal abuses of the pardon power in Europe, and warned that the same would happen in the new republic. Alexander Hamilton defended the pardon power in The Federalist Papers, particularly in Federalist No. 74. In his final day in office, George Washington granted the first high-profile federal pardon to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion.
Many pardons have been controversial. Critics argue that pardons have been used more often for the sake of political expediency than to correct judicial error. One of the more famous recent pardons was granted by President Gerald Ford to former President Richard Nixon on September 8, 1974, for official misconduct which gave rise to the Watergate scandal. Polls showed a majority of Americans disapproved of the pardon, and Ford’s public-approval ratings tumbled afterward. Other controversial uses of the pardon power include Andrew Johnson’s sweeping pardons of thousands of former Confederate officials and military personnel after the American Civil War, Jimmy Carter’s grant of amnesty to Vietnam-era draft dodgers, George H. W. Bush’s pardons of 75 people, including six Reagan administration officials accused or convicted in connection with the Iran–Contra affair, and Bill Clinton’s commutation of sentences for 16 members of FALN in 1999 and of 140 people on his last day in office, including billionaire fugitive Marc Rich and his own brother, Roger Clinton. Most recently, George W. Bush’s commutation of the prison term (but not the significant fine) of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was controversial. In commuting Libby’s prison term, Bush stated: “I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison ...leaving intact his remaining sentence and fine and leaving on his record his felony”. In 2007 Bush issued 29 pardons but did not include Libby among them.
The Justice Department requires that anyone requesting a pardon wait five years after conviction or release prior to receiving a pardon. A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.[24] Clemency may also be granted without the filing of a formal request and even if the intended recipient has no desire to be pardoned. In the overwhelming majority of cases, however, the Office of the Pardon Attorney will consider only petitions from persons who have completed their sentences and, in addition, have demonstrated their ability to lead a responsible and productive life for a significant period after conviction or release from confinement.[25]
So he had to live under Castro for 40 years. Pretty extreme punishment.
Grant full amnesty to all illegal aliens............
The one who escaped had blown off his hands while making a bomb. He was in a hospital with guards and a wire cage over the windows and 3 stories high.
The program said that someone smuggled in wire cutters and he used them to cut through the cage. They never even hinted at it but my guess is that it was arranged by someone in the police dept.
No way did he use those cutters with no hands and leap 3 stories to his freedom.
Castro probably got her a luxury room.
This is prepayment to the Bernie Sanders red crowd for inaugural day violence. And yet another thumb in the eye of law enforcement.
“What will he do on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday?”
I like Bud Light but not chicken. I think I’m going to get a Pardon.
While he will not have the same power after Friday, he will find ways to continue his war against America.
At a General Court Martial whereof Coll Tupper was President (10th March 1778) Lieutt Enslin of Coll Malcom’s Regiment tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier; Secondly, For Perjury in swearing to false Accounts, found guilty of the charges exhibited against him, being breaches of 5th Article 18th Section of the Articles of War and do sentence him to be dismiss’d the service with Infamy—His Excellency the Commander in Chief approves the sentence and with Abhorrence & Detestation of such Infamous Crimes orders Lieutt Enslin to be drummed out of Camp tomorrow morning by all the Drummers and Fifers in the Army never to return; The Drummers and Fifers to attend on the Grand Parade at Guard mounting for that Purpose.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-14-02-0138
This sounds very familiar...didn’t Bill Clinton also release prisoners from this same terrorist organization in the last days of his presidency?
Nice find. Are there similar documents for the times when Washington ordered the execution of deserters?
FALN’s responsible for more than 100 bombs that we know of... including one on Capitol Hill ...
Congressman Charles Halleck showed Speaker Joe Martin the bullet hole in the desk he was occupying when a group of Puerto Rican separatists opened fire onto the House Floor. The dissidents, proponents of their country’s independence from the United States——http://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2008/2008-074-001/
Note the House historian’s choice of words here. “...proponents of their country’s independence...”
It should of course read “...proponents of the territory’s independence...” or at most their “homeland’s.” Last time I checked, Puerto Rico is not a country.
Yes, with the help of Eric Holder... Carter did as well.
The Democrats have quite a love affair with Cuban-backed terrorist groups.
Probably.
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