Mike Huckabee: Pardon Me

In my last piece on Huckabee, I statedthat you can’t use one case to make him into Michael Dukakis. It turns out that it’s not just not one situation, though, it’s quite a few. Through 2004, a piece that’s been getting wide circulation lists Huckabee at 703 pardons and commuations.

That was, of course, through 8 years as Governor. However, some are treating pardons and commutations as being the same thing. Pardons were more often issued for people who had served their time and wanted citizenship rights restored.

The total number of commutations through April, 2006 was 146 according to the Arkansas Democrat, including 12 for murder. These clemencies didn’t always go well. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

Wade Stewart, 50, of 310 W. Scenic Drive in North Little Rock, was arrested after police found a. 38-caliber revolver tucked into his waistband. The woman who initially called police said a person in the Suburban had flashed a revolver at her and said he was looking for her brother.

On Dec. 18, 2004, Huckabee granted clemency to Stewart, who was serving a life sentence in the Aug. 25, 1973 shooting death of Nicholas Papadopolos, 25, in Little Rock.

After a parole hearing, Stewart was released.

Stewart, the 12th convicted murderer to be granted clemency by Huckabee during his tenure as governor, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and is being held without bond at the Pulaski County jail. The other two people in the Suburban, Charles Kevin White and Samantha Stephens, both of North Little Rock, were not arrested…

Some noteworthy clemencies included that of Jim Maxwell, a trust[ee]y at the governor’s mansion who later was banned from working at the mansion over his unauthorized use of computers, and Eugene Fields, a repeat driving-while-influenced offender who was pardoned in 2004 and arrested for another driving-while-influenced offense in 2006…

And in the first story, this example was given:

Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld, a Democrat who is running for attorney general, said the latest clemencies show “there’s still a lot of work to do” to change the clemency process.

He noted that a man Huckabee gave clemency to in 2003, Marty Southerland of Paron, was arrested this month on charges relating to a threat to Bryant School District Superintendent Richard Abernathy.

Huckabee’s pardon of Southerland allowed the man to maintain his right to own a firearm after he completed a sentence for a theft conviction.

One or two mistakes, I could see. But this number, it does show a history of some bad judgment. The one thing you can say in Huckabee’s defense is that many commutations were recommended by the parole and pardon board. However, towards the end of his term, after 10 1/2 years as governor, he’d appointed or re-appointed every member on the board, and they sent up several commutations he didn’t go through with.

The thoughts of his appointees on the clemency process were a big concern. Consider this argument posited in favor of the release of convicted murderer Johnny Witham:

The Parole Board voted unanimously June 15 to recommend clemency for Johnny Witham, who is being held at the Pine Bluff Unit on a life sentence. Board member Carolyn Robinson, who interviewed Johnny Witham, noted that he had served 32 years for his crime, had letters of support, and only one disciplinary infraction during his time in prison. She also noted that Denver Witham had been granted clemency.

Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld, who fought Denver Witham’s clemency, said using the clemency of one Witham in support of another doesn’t make any sense.

“They’re just bootstrapping one because the other is out,” he said. “It’s a bad idea. These guys took Stanley Wells out in the woods and beat him until his brains were in the trees.”

If the Arkansas parole board is representative of the type of people Huckabee appoints, I don’t like it.

Bottom Line

According to an opposition Research Paper given to Ameriblog, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette concluded that 9% of those receiving pardons or commutations from Huckabee ended up back in prison. That’s a very high percentage for commutations. You rarely hear of this type of thing happening when Governors are cautious about clemency, because clemency is rarely given. The high number of errors here seems to be definitely against the people of Arkansas, and this does raise legitimate questions about the quality of Huck’s judgement should he be elected President.