"Gov. Huckabee isn’t thoughtless, callous or cruel", but he's alive, which is in rather stark contrast to everyone associated with the criminal he pardoned.
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 12/05/2009 11:19:27 PM PST by Yomin Postelnik
There is currently a move underway to discredit Mike Huckabee over the rightful pardoning of a then 16 year old who had been sentenced to 108 years on robbery charges. I make this statement as someone who fully supports the death penalty for murderers and for child rapists, but also as someone who recognizes that getting tough on crime means fostering sensible rehabilitation, not turning first time offenders into violent career criminals.
Yes, Governor Huckabee pardoned more people than most governors do. That’s because Gov. Huckabee isn’t thoughtless, callous or cruel and recognizes that public service actually entails service to the public. Sentencing a 16 year old to months of hard labor generally serves as the greatest deterrent (except in cases of murder and the like). By contrast, sentencing a teen to years in prison has almost inevitably bred nothing more than a violent menaces to society.
(Excerpt) Read more at americandailyreview.com ...
We don't do labor camps in this country. Not much anyway. There used to be prison labor camps in places but I don't think there is any evidence that they reduced recidivism in violent offenders.
In addition our courts have mostly ruled that kind of treatment out. All anybody would have to do is come up with some "condition" preventing them from doing any labor and that would be it. They would just skate through their short sentence.
Besides, you're putting responsibility for someone's actions on the authorities who enforce the laws. That is liberal horse shit thinking.
Huckabee clearly has a problem with “getting his point across” then.
If he believes there’s a problem with the length of sentences and their effects on criminal behavior then he should have advocated for change rather than playing God and letting evil loose among us.
I remember those days. From my youth.
English class? It was no labor of love that’s for sure. ;^)
Exactly. If sentencing is a problem fix sentencing. If prison conditions are a problem fix prison conditions. In any case it is a false dichotomy to blame criminal behavior on “the system.” The reason people end up in jail is as a consequence of their actions. It is bassackwards to then use those consequences as a reason to excuse even more deviant behavior. That isn’t compassion that’s a neurosis.
While Clemmons' first sentence may have been unduly harsh, we as a society have unwittingly created an environment that rewards lawlessness and subjects society to the craven behavior of the criminal class.
Punishment, yes punishment, for criminal acts should be based on protecting society, deterring others from similar acts and only then should rehabilitation be considered. The prime reason for the existence of any government is to protect its citizens from dangers within and outside its borders, not rehabilitation of its enemies or its criminals.
I don't know but the guy was loose so I am thinking sadly not enough was done.
It’s the same copout that liberals use to enable radical islam which the author ironically frets over. Their behavior isn’t their fault—it’s ours. It’s America. It’s “the system.”
We just need to be nicer to those who feed on our blood, don’tcha know.
The three easiest way for a used car salesman to gain power
is to become a preacher, a politician or get a TV show.
I’m certainly NOT a Huckabee fan, but can understand somewhat that he does have a defense for his actions.
He only commuted the sentence of Clemmons, which reduced his sentence. He did not release the perp from prison; the parole board did that.
The government officials in Washington state are the people responsible. He had eight felony charges there, including pending child rape, and two judges let him walk with a pittance of bail fee.
All of that said, I totally disagree with your liberal views regarding the treatment of criminals. The punishments should fit the crimes.
"Gov. Huckabee isn’t thoughtless, callous or cruel", but he's alive, which is in rather stark contrast to everyone associated with the criminal he pardoned.
It takes a lot of guts to make such an absurd statement. I can think of at least four families that surely disagree: The families of Lakewood police Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and officers Tina Griswold, 40, Greg Richards, 42, and Ronald Owens, 37.
I had no strong feelings either way on Huck prior to this tragedy. Even if Huck has said it was a mistake and he would learn from it, I wouldn't hold it against him (not much at least). But Huck and his supporters have decided to act like this pardon was the right move. I disagree STRONGLY, and I find that position to be a serious flaw in Huck as a candidate.
Huckabee reduced Clemmons’ sentence to 47 years, 5 months and 19 days which made him immediately eligible. IMO he set things in motion for all of the suffering that’s followed.
Yes, there’s lots of blame but the one who got the ball rolling was Huckabee.
Good morning YP, you are certainly brave to defend Huckabee’s actions in releasing offenders on FR. I’ve never been a Huckabee fan but you are right there are major problems that need to be legitimately addressed about our courts and prisons. Short list includes: prison gangs, Islamist indocrination, juvenile incarceration, cost/effectiveness, etc.
BTW, good luck in your run for office in FL. Liked your website.
If Huck wanted to run for the Democratic nomination he’d probably be a shoo-in with a crime and pardon record like his, but the fact is that he would be running in a Republican primary dominated by conservatives. He’s finished.
Which is why you don't let them out. DUH.
Had this one person crime wave been left to rot in prison for the 108 years for which he was originally sentenced, the 4 cops he killed would have been alive today.
Petty theft? You're not just rewriting history, you're redefining criminal statute definitions.
We get it. You're a Huckabee fan and it's natural to try to find all the reasons why your loyalty wasn't misplaced. But your defense relies on downplaying serious crimes while trying to make the issue an abstract--academic musings over the societal influences and implications of the penal system. The grand, overarching justification you create for Huckabee's thought process is an after-the fact rationalization.
Clemmons was not a one time hiccup, but part of a clear pattern of a non-jurist substituting his own judgment for that of judges, juries, and prosecutors over and over again. Yes, it is a governor's prerogative to do so occasionally. But the sheer number of Huckabee's insertions of himself into the process forfeits the argument that his commutation of Clemmons's sentence was the result of careful, studied thought on the specifics of this one case. It's part of a clear, activist agenda.
It's painful to realize someone you admire and respect has serious flaws and blindspots. He's lucky to have passionate defenders such as you. But neither yours nor Huckabee's protestations and explanations can save his political career. It's over. Done. His explanation tour on the talk show circuit--especially this last race-card travesty with Geraldo--is only compounding the damage. He's gone all in on a losing hand, and the likelihood is, he's just gambled away any career at all in the public eye.
B U M P
Huckabee is, and always has been, a con man. Today, he is just a POS.
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