Posted on 01/21/2012 7:59:23 AM PST by Zakeet
The sheer number of pardons handed out by outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour over 200 left many Mississippians in shock. What may not have been so surprising is that white prisoners were four times more likely than black ones to get the gubernatorial benefit of the doubt.
Out of a total of 222 acts of clemency given by Barbour during his tenure 156 of which Attorney General Jim Hood has subsequently argued may be constitutionally invalid because of public notice violations two-thirds benefited white prisoners. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the state's prison population is black.
On its face, the disparities immediately raise questions about whether the Mississippi pardon system is inherently racist. Some critics have called on the US Justice Department to investigate Barbour's pardons on the racial disparities alone, since such broad inequalities could point to a violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
We're gonna burn that stupid Cracker cause he didn't pardon enough of our type of murderers.
He shouldn’t have pardoned them at all.
Maybe he didn’t want to stigmatize blacks any further by bringing attention to their astronomical incarceration rates.
Chicago (Illinois) style politics seeping down the river to Mississippi?
Barbour should be jailed in their place.
Now they just shill for liberal causes.
A lot of unanswered questions here, that they seem quite incurious about. Just raw race numbers tell you nothing - what was the nature of the crimes, how long ago, repeat offenders, time served ????
These pardons smell, but not for racial reasons.
Better questions, why are the guilty disproportionately black?
Sooooo, we finally get a factual report on prison statistical makeup. 37% of Mississippi's population makes up 66% of its felons. Hmmmmm....
So if blacks were twice as likely to commit a felony, they would make up 50% of the prison population. To get to 66% blacks have to commit 340% more felonies or more serious felonies.
These pardons shouldn't have happened period, but while we're addressing the injustice of percentages, I would like an answer from the "black leadership" concerning why society should have to put up with this.
Richard Pryor after meeting the blacks in the penitentiary.......”Thank God we got penitentiaries.”
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.
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Meanwhile, blacks are only 12% of the population but commit 50% of the murders.
Why is the NFL and the NBA disproportionately black?
I think both league’s should look like America.
I am only touting the thinking of main-stream liberals who always say that about judges, legislators, police, firefighters, etc.
There you go — I’d bet that the bright line is whether he’s a repeat offender / career criminal or not.
Barbour served notice on the GOP when he advocated for illegal alien amnesty that he was not fit to be one of us. This debacle should come as no surprise. He is pathetic.
Why on earth did Barbour pardon do this? He had to know he was deep-sixing any chance he had at national office.
I would suspect that a lot has to do with the nature of the crime, past record of the individual, and ability of the imprisoned to hire a “connected” lawyer. Nothing new here - move along folks.
Of course, everything boils down to the color of skin, huh? /s =.=
On top of everything else, he had the nerve to pardon Houston Nutt!
On top of everything else, he had the nerve to pardon Houston Nutt!
“He had to know he was deep-sixing any chance he had at national office.”
Right! He must have no ambition for further elected office.
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