Pardon Me, Hillary, But Cut The Hypocrisy
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
It just looks bad. Of course, with approval ratings hovering in the 30 percent range, who cares, right?
I think the whole pardoning and commuting of sentence thing is bogus anyway.
Seems to me they missed the mark on that one.[[In-content Ad]]The President's pardon power is established under the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2:
The President ... "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."
According to jurist.law.pitt.edu, the original versions of the New York and Virginia Plans that provided the frameworks for debate at the Constitutional Convention included no provisions for pardons. But revisions to both plans eventually did.
Constitutional scholars suggest the basic idea, when presented, wasn't controversial and prompted little debate. The Virginia Plan pardon clause, inserted by John Rutledge, lodged the pardon power with the new executive branch. Alexander Hamilton supported this strategy in Federalist 74, writing, "It is not to be doubted, that a single man of prudence and good sense is better fitted, in delicate conjunctures, to balance the motives which may plead for and against the remission of the punishment, than any numerous body whatever."
Reflecting on the events of his day, Hamilton noted, "in seasons of insurrection or rebellion, there are often critical moments, when a well-timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility of the commonwealth."
With the single exception of impeachment, the pardon power emerged from Philadelphia as exclusive, broad, and unfettered by the regular checks and balances of the governmental structure.
But the framers were thinking in terms of using pardons to help them gain information or to help them formulate military strategy.
I don't really think they intended it to be the get-out-of-jail-free card the pardon has turned into in modern times.
So pardons are part of the Constitution, but that doesn't mean I have to like them.
And what really galls me is the level of hypocrisy that politicians are willing to display when it comes to pardons.
Listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say about W's pardon of Scooter Libby: "Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."
Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.
How quickly you forget.
President William Jefferson Clinton was the king of all pardoners.
Margaret Love was a lawyer in private practice in Washington. From 1990 to 1997 she served as Pardon Attorney in the Department of Justice, and in that capacity she had primary responsibility for investigating and making recommendations to the president on petitions for pardon and commutation of sentence.
Here are excerpts from her statement to a hearing on presidential pardons in February 2001.
(If you have the time and the Internet, read the whole statement at:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/love1.htm It's truly fascinating.)
"Early in President Clinton's first term there were signs that he might depart from the consistent practice of his predecessors of relying on the Attorney General's advice in clemency matters. ...
"Several months before the end of President Clinton's second term, reports began to circulate that there would be a large number of grants at the end of his term. This by itself would be unusual, for pardoning had in the past taken place regularly and consistently throughout the president's term and was not reserved until its end. ...
"While one might expect some slippage in the ordinary pardon process at the end of an administration, it was clear to anyone familiar with that process that something unprecedented was about to take place. Even with this advance warning, however, I was surprised at how pardon decisions were reportedly made in the final hours of his tenure, and even more surprised at some of the grants.
"The Clinton administration's short-sighted and ill-advised decision to abandon the longstanding regular system of Justice Department review led directly to the reported free-for-all at the end of his term, and at best an appearance of cronyism and impropriety. ...
"President Clinton's pardoning practices not only resulted in embarrassing grants, they also left the process by which the pardon power has historically been administered in disrepute."
Nice.
Clinton granted 395 pardons during his presidency, including 140 on his last day in office.
Scooter Libby fibbed to prosecutors who were investigating something that wasn't a crime.
Here's a smattering of the type of people Bill Clinton felt compelled to help:
David Ronald Chandler: Capital offense: murder while engaged in and working in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Non-capital offenses: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and 1,000 marijuana plants; engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise; using or carrying of a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime; money laundering.
Gloria Libia Camargo: Conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.
Lau Ching Chin: Conspiracy to possess heroin with intent to distribute.
Charles F. Campbell: Conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine; distribution of 50 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Loretta De-Ann Coffman: Conspiracy; possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine; use of telephone to commit drug offense; distribution of crack cocaine near school.
You get the picture.
The list was alphabetical. I just looked at a few of the C's.
In August 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the U.S., mostly in New York City and Chicago. They were convicted of robbery, bomb-making, sedition and firearms and explosives violations.
The commutation was opposed by U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and criticized by many including former victims of FALN terrorist activities and the Fraternal Order of Police. Congress condemned the action, with a vote of 95-2 in the Senate and 311-41 in the House.
So whether you agree or disagree with the concept of presidential pardons and commutations, honestly, if you were Hillary Clinton, wouldn't you just keep your mouth shut?
It just looks bad. Of course, with approval ratings hovering in the 30 percent range, who cares, right?
I think the whole pardoning and commuting of sentence thing is bogus anyway.
Seems to me they missed the mark on that one.[[In-content Ad]]The President's pardon power is established under the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2:
The President ... "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."
According to jurist.law.pitt.edu, the original versions of the New York and Virginia Plans that provided the frameworks for debate at the Constitutional Convention included no provisions for pardons. But revisions to both plans eventually did.
Constitutional scholars suggest the basic idea, when presented, wasn't controversial and prompted little debate. The Virginia Plan pardon clause, inserted by John Rutledge, lodged the pardon power with the new executive branch. Alexander Hamilton supported this strategy in Federalist 74, writing, "It is not to be doubted, that a single man of prudence and good sense is better fitted, in delicate conjunctures, to balance the motives which may plead for and against the remission of the punishment, than any numerous body whatever."
Reflecting on the events of his day, Hamilton noted, "in seasons of insurrection or rebellion, there are often critical moments, when a well-timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility of the commonwealth."
With the single exception of impeachment, the pardon power emerged from Philadelphia as exclusive, broad, and unfettered by the regular checks and balances of the governmental structure.
But the framers were thinking in terms of using pardons to help them gain information or to help them formulate military strategy.
I don't really think they intended it to be the get-out-of-jail-free card the pardon has turned into in modern times.
So pardons are part of the Constitution, but that doesn't mean I have to like them.
And what really galls me is the level of hypocrisy that politicians are willing to display when it comes to pardons.
Listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say about W's pardon of Scooter Libby: "Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."
Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.
How quickly you forget.
President William Jefferson Clinton was the king of all pardoners.
Margaret Love was a lawyer in private practice in Washington. From 1990 to 1997 she served as Pardon Attorney in the Department of Justice, and in that capacity she had primary responsibility for investigating and making recommendations to the president on petitions for pardon and commutation of sentence.
Here are excerpts from her statement to a hearing on presidential pardons in February 2001.
(If you have the time and the Internet, read the whole statement at:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/love1.htm It's truly fascinating.)
"Early in President Clinton's first term there were signs that he might depart from the consistent practice of his predecessors of relying on the Attorney General's advice in clemency matters. ...
"Several months before the end of President Clinton's second term, reports began to circulate that there would be a large number of grants at the end of his term. This by itself would be unusual, for pardoning had in the past taken place regularly and consistently throughout the president's term and was not reserved until its end. ...
"While one might expect some slippage in the ordinary pardon process at the end of an administration, it was clear to anyone familiar with that process that something unprecedented was about to take place. Even with this advance warning, however, I was surprised at how pardon decisions were reportedly made in the final hours of his tenure, and even more surprised at some of the grants.
"The Clinton administration's short-sighted and ill-advised decision to abandon the longstanding regular system of Justice Department review led directly to the reported free-for-all at the end of his term, and at best an appearance of cronyism and impropriety. ...
"President Clinton's pardoning practices not only resulted in embarrassing grants, they also left the process by which the pardon power has historically been administered in disrepute."
Nice.
Clinton granted 395 pardons during his presidency, including 140 on his last day in office.
Scooter Libby fibbed to prosecutors who were investigating something that wasn't a crime.
Here's a smattering of the type of people Bill Clinton felt compelled to help:
David Ronald Chandler: Capital offense: murder while engaged in and working in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Non-capital offenses: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and 1,000 marijuana plants; engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise; using or carrying of a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime; money laundering.
Gloria Libia Camargo: Conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.
Lau Ching Chin: Conspiracy to possess heroin with intent to distribute.
Charles F. Campbell: Conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine; distribution of 50 grams or more of crack cocaine.
Loretta De-Ann Coffman: Conspiracy; possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine; use of telephone to commit drug offense; distribution of crack cocaine near school.
You get the picture.
The list was alphabetical. I just looked at a few of the C's.
In August 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the U.S., mostly in New York City and Chicago. They were convicted of robbery, bomb-making, sedition and firearms and explosives violations.
The commutation was opposed by U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and criticized by many including former victims of FALN terrorist activities and the Fraternal Order of Police. Congress condemned the action, with a vote of 95-2 in the Senate and 311-41 in the House.
So whether you agree or disagree with the concept of presidential pardons and commutations, honestly, if you were Hillary Clinton, wouldn't you just keep your mouth shut?
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