THE DAILY BLADE: Life Imitates “A Law Abiding Citizen”
In a Washington Post op-ed, former Republican presidential candidate and AR governor Mike Huckabee elaborates on a statement he posted on his blog in the immediate aftermath of the four WA state police officers who were ambushed and shot to death on Sunday of the Thanksgiving holiday week-end by career criminal Maurice Clemmons:
Nine years ago, the name Maurice Clemmons crossed my desk. I commuted his sentence from 108 years to 47 years. I take full responsibility for my actions of nine years ago. I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000. If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. If I only had the same information I had then, I would make the same decision [emphasis, The Stiletto.]
In this op-ed and a rather feisty post on the Red State News blog, Huckabee seeks to correct misreporting of the facts surrounding this commutation, including:
† He granted just eight percent of the 1,000 and 1,200 clemency requests he received from the Post Prison Transfer Board nnually in the 10½ years he was in office, and only when it was recommended unanimously by the five members of the PPTB, “with consideration given to input from public officials and my own personal review of each and every file.”
† During the 30 days for public comment by officials and citizens, no objections were raised. “In fact, only letters of support for Clemmons' commutation were received, including one from the circuit judge.”
† Clemmons was 16 years old when he committed the crimes of burglary and robbery for which he had been sentenced to 108 years in prison, and did not show any signs of the psychosis he would later develop while committing a string of violent crimes in WA during the past year.
† The PPTB recommended commutation after Clemmons had served 11 years of his sentence - more time than others his age with his rap sheet would have gotten.
By reducing the 108-year sentence imposed by the judge after Clemmons was convicted in a jury trial, Huckabee was a link in the chain of events that let this monster roam free – but this chain was forged by our criminal justice system.
The first link, the AR Post Prison Transfer Board, which unanimously recommended that Clemmons sentence be reduced so he could be paroled, even though he was hardly a model prisoner; the second link, Huckabee acting on that recommendation; the next link, the parole officers who apparently didn’t keep a close enough eye on him - he was convicted of a robbery in 2001 but not charged in another robbery that year because prosecutors could not find any witnesses; the link after that, the PTTB, which again paroled Clemmons in 2004; the link after that, the AR Department of Community Correction, which released its hold on Clemmons and refused the request of WA prosecutors to extradite him for parole violation after he assaulted two sheriff’s deputies in May; Judge John McCarthy, who set bail at $40,000 in the assault case instead of the $100,000 the DA requested; Judge Thomas Felnagle, who set bail at $150,000 in the child rape case, instead of the $200,000 the DA recommended; and Jail Sucks Bail Bonds, which posted the $190,000 bail that freed Clemmons after he was turned down by two other bail-bond agencies.
A week or so before Thanksgiving, The Stiletto saw “A Law Abiding Citizen" (click here to view the trailer). The plot involves a man whose wife and daughter are killed in a home invasion by two low-life thugs, one of whom gets a lenient sentence in exchange for helping an assistant D.A. maintain his near-perfect conviction rate by testifying against the other and sending him to death row. After watching the rest of the plot unfold, The Stiletto did not think there were any heroes in the story. The repeated failures of the criminal justice systemin the Clemmons case puts things in a different light. Rarely does a criminal get sentenced for, or plead guilty to, the crime (s)he actually committed. Charges are routinely reduced to enhance the odds of getting a conviction or guilty plea, which means that sentences aren’t as tough as they should be.
As a compassionate conservative and an ordained Baptist minister, Huckabee is a believer in restorative justice (second item). It is a misguided compassion that seeks to heal criminals rather than their victims. Huckabee insists that he has not given any thought to how the Clemmons case will affect his presidential prospects – and has chastised pundits who have engaged in such speculation – which means he has the time to give thought to how to fix our broken criminal justice system so that charges aren’t dumbed down, just so ambitious assistant DAs can get promotions and eventually run for office.
Editorial Note: The Stiletto thinks it was politically courageous – and a sign of sincerity rather than spin - that Huckabee admits faced with the same facts as he had back then, he would have made the same decision back then. Presidents also have pardon power, so the real question is: With the facts you had nine years ago, what would you do today? No doubt he will have to answer this question - first for himself, and then for voters – should he decide to make another run for the White House. Just as the September 11, 2001 terror attacks caused the worldviews of some liberals to evolve, The Stiletto hopes the Clemmons case will have a similar effect on Huckabee.
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