Free Republic

SEOUL (UCAN) -- A letter from the late Pope John Paul II, which saved the life of former President Thomas More Kim Dae-jung, has been made known to the public recently.   Former president Kim Dae-jung The late Pope sent the letter to then-South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan on Dec. 11, 1980, asking for "clemency" for Kim, a Catholic, who had been sentenced to death a week before.The National Archives of Korea (NAK) on May 18 revealed the contents of letter at the request of the "Kwangju Ilbo," the local daily newspaper in Gwangju (Kwangju).Former President Chun, who seized power in a...

Family members, friends and lawyers for convicted ex-Gov. George Ryan are pushing a plea for clemency during the final weeks of the Bush administration.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-opa-1048.html President George W. Bush Grants Pardons and Commutations WASHINGTON - On Nov. 24, 2008, President George W. Bush granted pardons to 14 individuals and commutation of sentence to two individuals: PARDONS: · Leslie Owen Collier - Charleston, Mo. Offense: Unauthorized use of a registered pesticide, 7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(2)(F) and 136l(b); violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. § 668(a). Sentence: Feb. 2, 1996; Eastern District of Missouri; two years’ probation and $10,000 in restitution. · Milton Kirk Cordes - Rapid City, S.D. Offense: Conspiracy to violate the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush's latest list of pardons does not include some high-profile criminals who still hope the president will grant them clemency in his final weeks in office. On Monday, Bush granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others whose misdeeds included dealing drugs, evading taxes, killing bald eagles or mishandling hazardous waste. The most recent batch, however, did not include any well-known convicts like junk bond dealer Michael Milken, who is seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges, or two politicians convicted of public corruption — former Rep. Randy "Duke"...

A new state rule in Florida calls for more than 115,000 former felons who complete their sentences to be given back their civil rights, including the right to vote, hold public office, serve on a jury, and obtain state and local licenses for certain types of work. The rule by the state’s Board of Executive Clemency ends a policy that, until now, required a panel to act individually on every restoration of rights requests. Florida Governor Charlie Crist – attending a two-day summit of state officials, lawmakers, community activists, prison ministers and others brainstorming ideas for keeping former inmates from...

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine announced this afternoon that he will commute the death sentence of convicted triple murderer Percy Levar Walton because he does not believe Walton meets the Supreme Court criteria of mental competence required for an execution to proceed. Walton, now 29, was scheduled to become the 100th convict executed in Virginia since the federal reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, a capital punishment tally topped only by the justice system in Texas. He was sentenced to death after he admitted killing an elderly couple and another man in their homes over a 10-day period in 1996....

The two former U.S. Border Patrol agents who were sentenced to prison terms of more than a decade each for shooting at a drug smuggler who dumped a load in the United States, then fled on foot back into Mexico rather than be arrested, must ask if they want clemency in their cases, according to the White House. "There is a process under which anyone can apply for a pardon or a commutation. And if they want to take advantage of that process, they're absolutely welcome to," Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, told WND today. She was responding to...

Hilarious video parody of one of the worst thorns in Huckabee's side. Click on the link to watch!

(snip) Over the course of his 10 1/2 years as governor, Huckabee granted a staggering 1,033 clemencies, according to the Associated Press. That was more than double the combined 507 that were granted during the 17 1/2 years of his three predecessors: Bill Clinton, Frank White, and Jim Guy Tucker. In many cases, Huckabee's actions set loose savage criminals convicted of grizzly murders over the passionate objections of prosecutors and victims' families. "I felt like Huckabee had more compassion for the murders than he ever did for the victims," Elaine Colclasure, co-leader of the Central Arkansas chapter of Parents of...

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer Mon Dec 10, 3:10 AM ET LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee had a hand in twice as many pardons and commutations as his three predecessors combined. The case he's asked about most concerns the parole of a castrated rapist who later killed a woman. Although the Republican presidential contender plays down any personal involvement in that release, Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations in his 10 1/2 years as governor of Arkansas. The acts of clemency benefited the stepson of a staff member, murderers who worked at the governor's...

Washington - The chief Democrat probing President George W Bush's decision to erase the prison sentence of a former White House aide said on Sunday there is "the suspicion" the aide might have fingered others in the Bush administration if he served time. House Judiciary Committee chair John Conyers spoke of "the general impression" that Bush last week commuted I Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 2½-year sentence in the CIA leak case to keep Libby quiet... Bush contended Libby's sentence was too harsh. Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing justice in an investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's identity.

Just as White House loyalists had begun arguing that clemency for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby -- either a pardon or a commuted sentence -- would be a way for an embattled President Bush to reassert himself, particularly among conservatives, Paris Hilton has volunteered to serve Libby's sentence. "I am just getting what I deserve," said the born-again hotel heiress, "but Scooter has done nothing wrong! And, if he did, he should not serve any more time than Bill CLinton did for perjury!" Several Republicans said that it would be a good move for both Bush's and Hilton's sagging poll numbers.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A state judge spared the life of alleged neighbor-assaulter Lewis the cat on Tuesday, but ordered that he remain inside his owner's Fairfield home at all times. "There are no exceptions. None," said Judge Patrick Carroll, who also granted accelerated rehabilitation to Lewis' owner, Ruth Cisero. That means her record will be expunged if she successfully completes two years of probation. Cisero had faced a charge of reckless endangerment because neighbors complained that the cat's long claws and stealth have allowed it to attack at least a half-dozen people and ambush the Avon lady as she was...

SAN FRANCISCO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied a request by an attorney for condemned inmate Michael Morales that the governor reconsider granting Morales a clemency hearing. Morales, 46, was convicted of the 1981 sexual assault and murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell of Lodi, and is scheduled to die by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Schwarzenegger announced Friday that he had decided not to grant clemency to Morales, stating, "Morales' claim that he is a changed man does not excuse the brutal murder and rape of Terri Winchell." On Sunday, Kenneth Starr, who is one...

'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency Jan 19 5:33 PM US/Eastern By MARTHA MENDOZA AP National Writer SAN FRANCISCO After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh said Thursday he has asked President Bush to grant his son clemency, adding that the then teenager never raised arms against the United States. "In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh, swallowing back tears at times during a speech at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization. John Walker Lindh, now 24, was captured by...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency Friday to California's oldest condemned convict who asked to be spared because of his age and infirmities. Clarence Ray Allen, 75, who ordered the slayings of three people at a Fresno market while he was behind bars at Folsom State Prison in 1980, told Schwarzenegger that he was too old and frail to be put to death early Tuesday morning at San Quentin State Prison. "Allen's jury reasonably concluded that life in prison was not the appropriate punishment for someone who orders the killing of witnesses while already serving a term of...

What is it about the fate of convicted killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams that so engrossed the Hollyleft and Euroleft? A founder of the Crips – a Los Angeles criminal gang whose record of murder, rape and robbery makes Al Capone's Cicero crowd look like the Lavender Hill Mob – Tookie was convicted in 1979 of the cold-blooded killing of four innocent people in a pair of robberies. Albert Owens, a 26-year-old Whittier, Calif., 7-Eleven employee, was shotgunned to death. Days later, an elderly Asian couple who ran a motel, Yen-I Yang and Thsai-Shai Yang, and their 43-year-old daughter, Yee Chen...

Sacramento -- Amid the uproar over last week's execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, state lawmakers for the most part were notably silent. California politicians largely avoided the death penalty debate as advocates and opponents argued in newspapers and on television over whether the Crips co-founder and eventual anti-gang crusader deserved to live or die, and whether capital punishment was justice or barbarism. A petition asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare Williams by granting him clemency was circulated among legislative Democrats, but only nine -- out of 73 in the Assembly and Senate -- signed it. As five Democrats prepare to...

Death Penalty ReduxThe execution of Tookie Williams has brought new life to efforts to undermine California’s death penalty law. AB 1121, a two-year moratorium on executions introduced by Assemblyman Paul Koretz will be taken up by the state Assembly on January 10, just a week before 75-year-old convicted killer Clarence Ray Allen is sentenced to die. Koretz argues that the moratorium is necessary to assure that innocent people are not put to death while the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice reviews California’s criminal justice system. But California’s death penalty review process is already the most rigorous and...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's rejection of Stanley Tookie Williams' clemency plea Monday, after several public statements last week indicating he was wrestling with the decision, was a strongly worded rebuke that left little doubt about the governor's feelings: Williams deserved to die. In a six-page statement, Schwarzenegger insisted Williams was guilty of the four crimes for which he was convicted and brushed aside the Crips founder's redemption as a children's book author and anti-gang crusader. The decision was not a surprise to political experts who said the governor had little to gain by sparing Williams. Facing a rebellion among...

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court has rejected a stay of execution for Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams, who is scheduled to die after midnight. The court's decision comes a day after the California Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution for the convicted killer meaning the former gang leader who became an outspoken critic of gang violence will be executed early Tuesday unless the governor grants clemency. Williams' supporters also made another pitch directly to the governor Sunday to spare his life, telling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a letter that they had a new witness who...

Gov. Shwarzeneggar expected to make announcement on Tookie Williams Execution Clemency shortly according to Fox News.

With only two days left before the scheduled execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the Rev. Jesse Jackson made another appeal for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare the life of the reformed gang leader Saturday. Jackson said Williams had changed dramatically while in prison, worked to discourage troubled youths from joining violent street gangs, and could serve humanity better if allowed to live. Williams' execution is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Jackson also used the news conference at his Rainbow/PUSH headquarters on the South Side to call for an end to the death penalty. "We must kill the idea of...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not decide on Saturday whether to grant clemency to former Crips gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams, who is slated to be executed on Tuesday for murdering four people in 1979, his office said. Barring clemency or last-minute court intervention, officials will administer a lethal injection to Williams at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday in the death chamber at San Quentin State Prison. The case has generated widespread interest and fierce debate over the death penalty in the United States because Williams, 51, has written a series of books warning young people against...

Gov. Quiet on Williams' SACRAMENTO — The fate of Stanley Tookie Williams rested in the hands of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday after lawyers for the condemned man made a final plea for his life and prosecutors said his crimes merit society's harshest punishment. After hearing attorneys' arguments during a private, 75-minute meeting, Schwarzenegger made no comment and aides could not say how soon he would decide whether to grant Williams clemency. "He will deliberate as long as it takes to make a conscientious, fair and just decision," press secretary Margita Thompson said. She said Schwarzenegger would release a written...

SAN FRANCISCO – One victim was a young convenience store clerk and military veteran who moved back to California to fight for custody of his daughters. The other three were family members who owned a motel they wanted to sell because the neighborhood had grown rough. For all four, plans to change their lives were cut short by the sawed-off shotgun of Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams during a pair of 1979 robberies in Los Angeles County that have put him on death row. Their stories are part of the pitch prosecutors have made to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to deny...

In a clemency decision do you think a govenor is most concerned with the facts of the case or the political ramifications that could stem from a decision?

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's clemency review this week to determine whether to execute Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams could influence the governor's ability to rebound from political setbacks. Convicted of four brutal killings a quarter century ago, Williams has generated a big public campaign calling for clemency because of his anti-gang books aimed at inner-city youth. The Republican governor will hear from prosecutors and defense attorneys at the clemency hearing behind closed doors on Thursday. He will only have a few days if he wants to halt the December 13 execution by lethal injection at...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would consider granting clemency to convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang co-founder who became an anti-gang activist while in prison. The governor said Friday he would meet Dec. 8 in a private hearing at his Sacramento office with Williams' lawyers, Los Angeles County prosecutors and others involved. Schwarzenegger, vested with constitutional authority to grant mercy and commute a death sentence to life without parole, is not legally obligated to hold a public or private hearing, and decides clemency requests on a "case-by-case basis," said his spokeswoman, Margita Thompson. Williams, 51, faces death by...

It almost defies words. What is it that drives celebrities to the brink of hysteria over the execution death of a quadruple murderer and the founder of a mass-murdering street gang? What can you say about people hell-bent on sparing the life of a man convicted of the 1979 murders of a convenience-store clerk and two motel owners and their daughter during separate robberies – and then bragging about the killings? Why does one even need to point out the hypocrisy and immorality of holding up this kind of human scum as a role model and hero, while not lifting...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he would consider granting clemency to convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang founder who became an anti-gang activist while in prison and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The governor said he would meet Dec. 8 in a private hearing with Williams' lawyers, Los Angeles County prosecutors and others involved. Schwarzenegger has the authority to commute a death sentence to life without parole, but he is not obligated to hold a hearing. In Schwarzenegger's case, he decides clemency requests on a "case-by-case basis," spokeswoman Margita Thompson said. Two...

San Francisco -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that he would consider granting clemency to Crips co-founder and convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams. After a private hearing with Williams' lawyers at his Sacramento office, Schwarzenegger said he would meet again on Dec. 8 with the lawyers, Los Angeles County prosecutors and others involved. As governor, he has the authority to commute a death sentence to life without parole. He is not legally obligated to hold a public or private hearing. Schwarzenegger decides clemency requests on a "case-by-case basis," . . .

You've no doubt heard the sob-stories about the impending California execution of Crips co-founder and cold-blooded killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, set for December 13th. Williams murdered four people in cold blood during two robberies. There is no doubt he did it, and he was not convicted on circumstantial evidence. That's not to mention the hundreds of murder victims taken by members of his Crips gang. But, despite this, Williams was a several-time Nobel Prize nominee, and the following celebrities are rallying for his clemency from the sentence by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: * Snoop Dogg (no comment necessary) * Jamie Foxx...

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he is undecided on whether to grant clemency in the high-profile case of condemned killer Stanley Tookie Williams. Williams, co-founder of the Crips gang, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 13 for the killings of four people. Law enforcement officials have launched an unusually fierce campaign to block clemency, The Los Angeles Times said Friday. Officials are asking the governor to reject pleas from clergy, legislators and entertainers that Williams has redeemed himself by his work on death row to dissuade young people from joining gangs. Speaking to reporters...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to take the case of California death row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a founder of the Crips street gang whose later work for peace won him Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Williams, who has been praised for his children's books and efforts to curtail youth gang violence, likely will be executed in December if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does not grant clemency. The 51-year-old former gang member claims Los Angeles County prosecutors violated his rights when they dismissed all potential black jurors. Williams, who claims he is innocent, is in line to be...

The governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed(Fla Const art1 sec1a) Judge Greer has ordered Jeb Bush to not follow the Laws of FLA. (See Notice of Filing Case No. 2D05-1455 (3/24/2005) at http://www.state.fl.us/cf_web/ ) Bush can not follow the judges order and the Laws of Florida simultaniously. He by definition is iether breaking law or the order. The Rule of Law requires Jeb Bush to Sweep aside the offending Motions through clemency in the Terri Schiavo case. Only then can he obey his oath. Judge Greer can not require Bush to break his oath to the...

President Bush yesterday handed out eight pardons — including one for a Queens man who went on a drunken rampage 20 years ago while he was serving in the military. Joseph Gavin, 44, who was drummed out of the Army after the incident, broke down in tears when he learned his name had finally been cleared, his wife told The Post. The charges against Gavin included being drunk, resisting arrest, making threats, damaging property and refusing to obey an order. He was court-martialed and given a bad conduct discharge for the offenses in 1984.

President Bush pardoned eight people, including a man convicted of bootlegging 45 years ago and a North Dakota man involved in a stolen explosives case, the Justice Department announced Friday. The first round of clemency orders in Bush's second term brings his total since taking office to 39 pardons and sentence commutations. Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, issued 77 pardons during his single term from 1989 to 1993, according to statistics collected by the University of Pittsburgh law school. President Clinton, by contrast, granted clemency to 456 people during his eight years in office, including 176 on his last...

Bush pardons eight, including convicted bootlegger WASHINGTON - President Bush has acted to pardon eight people, including a man convicted of bootlegging 45 years ago. It's the first round of clemency orders in the president's second term -- and brings his total since taking office to 39 pardons and sentence commutations. Those pardoned include three men from Texas, and one each from New York, Florida, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. Their offenses range from misusing mortgage funds to theft of government property. The bootlegger, Charles Russell Cooper of Corpus Christi, Texas, was given three years' probation. By historical...

Brain defects caused him to follow orders, attack pair, they say: Lawyers for Donald Beardslee, scheduled to die by lethal injection Jan. 19 for the murders of two young women in San Mateo County in 1981, appealed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency Thursday, arguing that Beardslee is a mentally impaired dupe who is facing execution for crimes orchestrated by others. "The jury was unaware of the extent to which his actions and conduct were controlled by severe brain damage that impaired his functioning since birth,'' attorneys Michael Laurence and Susan Garvey said in a 48-page petition to Schwarzenegger. They...

There was a time when creativity and ingenuity were considered military virtues, but don't tell that to Army Maj. Cathy Kaus. A reservist from Ohio for 27 years, Maj. Kaus' transportation company landed in Kuwait three days before the invasion of Iraq. Her unit's job was to haul fuel across dangerous stretches of road, including the Sunni Triangle, and it never missed a mission or lost a single soldier. Her performance: The unit hauled 33 million gallons of fuel during its tour of duty. She was one of 10 members awarded Bronze Stars. Her citation noted her ''exceptionally meritorious service''...

Posted on Tue, Dec. 21, 2004 Bush Issues Just 31 Pardons in First Term CURT ANDERSON Associated Press WASHINGTON - President Bush granted four pardons Tuesday, bringing to just 31 the total of pardons and sentence commutations he has issued during his first term, the Justice Department announced. The number of clemency orders issued by Bush are far off the pace of most modern presidents and less than half the 77 granted by his father, President George H.W. Bush, during his single term from 1989 to 1993, according to statistics collected by the University of Pittsburgh law school. President Clinton,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush granted four pardons Tuesday, bringing to just 31 the total of pardons and sentence commutations he has issued during his first term, the Justice Department announced. The number of clemency orders issued by Bush are far off the pace of most modern presidents and less than half the 77 granted by his father, President George H.W. Bush, during his single term from 1989 to 1993, according to statistics collected by the University of Pittsburgh law school. President Clinton, by contrast, granted clemency for 456 people during his eight years in office, including 176 on his...

Governor George E. Pataki will issue no executive clemencies at Christmastime, a traditional time for displays of mercy to state prison inmates. The governor's spokesman, David Catalfamo, said yesterday that Mr. Pataki considered and rejected requests last week before departing on a European vacation, the Associated Press reported. Among the rejected was Sharon Richardson, who has served 15 years of a 20-to-life sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for her 1991 conviction in Brooklyn Supreme Court of conspiracy to murder her boyfriend, who allegedly beat and raped her and molested her then 9-year-old daughter. See the story. Ms. Richardson's pro...

To: U.S. Congress Six Ohio-based reservists were court-martialed for taking Army vehicles abandoned in Kuwait by other units so they could carry out their own unit's mission to Iraq. Members of the 656th Transportation Company said they needed the equipment to deliver fuel that was needed by U.S. forces in Iraq for everything from helicopters to tanks. The reservists took two tractor-trailers and stripped parts from a five-ton truck that had been abandoned in Kuwait by other units that had already moved into Iraq, one of the reservists, Darrell Birt of Columbus, told the Associated Press on Sunday. Birt, a...

An Indonesian court has submitted a request for presidential clemency for two men sentenced to death for the Bali nightclub bombings two years ago. The two Islamic militants did not ask for clemency, but such a request is automatic under Indonesian law in cases where a death sentence is involved. The two convicted men, Imam Samudra and Amrozi, had key roles in the October 2002 blasts, which killed 202 people, most of them foreigners. Authorities have blamed the bombings on Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terror group linked to the al-Qaida network.

The record is puzzling. Why would Kerry claim hero status and then refuse to allow us to see his record and allow every reader to confirm his claims? Why, even in war time, does Kerry’ service in the USNR appear to stretch from 1966 to 1978, 12 years? How does one explain the strange irregularities (multiple citations for his Silver Star) and inconsistencies in the Kerry military records that are available? Why does the 6 year (plus six month?) USNR obligation begun by Kerry in 2/66 appear to end in 1/70 again, in time of war, even though available records...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A condemned murderer whose bid for clemency has won support from celebrities including Denzel Washington was set to be executed early today, the first death penalty case for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p> <p>Kevin Cooper, who was convicted in the 1983 hacking deaths of four persons, was scheduled to be executed just after midnight at San Quentin Prison after spending 19 years on death row.</p>

NEVER FORGET ...Washington D.C. Attorney LANNY DAVIS, who lied to the Amerian People thru TV in order to have his clients the CLINTONS skate right past their Impeachment from our Oval Office during the 1990's... ...is now also defending convicted multiple Killer KEVIN COOPER against Gov. ARNOLD's properly executing him 21 years after this Killer's dastardly deed. ...Yesterday Gov. ARNOLD refused to commute KEVIN COOPER's Feb. 10th execution, saying... .."I have carefully weighed the claims presented in KEVIN COOPER's plea for clemency. Everything establishing his guilt is overwhelming, and his conversion to faith and his mentoring of others, while commendable,...

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) denied clemency Friday to a man convicted of murdering a couple, their 10-year-old daughter and their daughter's friend with a buck knife and a hatchet.</p> <p>It was the first death penalty case for the new Republican governor and the decision cleared the way for Kevin Cooper's (search) execution, scheduled for Feb. 10.</p>