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Subscribe to RSSA Mississippi judge ruled Wednesday night there is "a substantial likelihood" that some of outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour's controversial pardons violated the state constitution and temporarily blocked the release of 21 inmates granted clemency by executive order.
Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green granted Attorney General Jim Hood's request that pardoned criminals held in custody remain incarcerated until a hearing to determine the legality of their release, to be held Jan. 23.
The Mississippi Constitution states that prisoners convicted of felonies must publish a request for pardon in local newspapers for 30 days before they can be officially pardoned and released (Art. 5, Sec. 124).
SECTION 124. Reprieves and pardons.
In all criminal and penal cases, excepting those of treason and impeachment, the Governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, to remit fines, and in cases of forfeiture, to stay the collection until the end of the next session of the Legislature, and by and with the consent of the senate to remit forfeitures. In cases of treason he shall have power to grant reprieves, and by and with consent of the senate, but may respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the Legislature; but no pardon shall be granted before conviction; and in cases of felony, after conviction no pardon shall be granted until the applicant therefor shall have published for thirty days, in some newspaper in the county where the crime was committed, and in case there be no newspaper published in said county, then in an adjoining county, his petition for pardon, setting forth therein the reasons why such pardon should be granted.
"We are looking at each pardon, but have already found cases where this requirement was not met," Hood said in a press release announcing the decision. "It is inconceivable to me that the Governor would take this action and would jeopardize the safety of the people he was sworn to protect."
In a statement yesterday, Barbour blamed the uproar on a "misunderstanding [of] the clemency process," and said the vast majority of the 215 pardoned individuals were no longer in custody and most had been free for years. "The pardons were intended to allow them to find gainful employment or acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote."
The Mississippi Department of Corrections confirmed that only 26 of the pardoned perpetrators were in custody at the time of clemency and, of those inmates, 13 were to be released because their health had deteriorated to such a degree that they were no longer threats to society.
At the time of the injunction, five prisoners had already been freed, four of whom are convicted murderers. All five men worked in the Governor's Mansion during Barbour's time in office through a prison "trusty" program. They have been ordered to appear at the Jan. 23 hearing with proof they met the requirements for release and must check in with the Department of Corrections every 24 hours.
Barbour has yet to comment on the debate over the constitutionality of his actions.
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Bless Boss Hog's widdle heart!
Why were strings attached to the Scott sisters release?
Brett Favre gets a pardon but they didn't...
*correction* - should read; Brett Favre's brother gets a pardon.
Here's what I don't get, Feisty. With all the unemployment around, they give jobs in the governor's mansion in Mississippi to inmates. Then the governor makes friends with them and gets them pardons. Doesn't make sense to me.
There is a lot about Mississippi that doesn't make sense to me! ☺
What kind of a$$-backwards state are you running down there in MS?? And you want nit-wits like this having more state's rights???
I say if these idiot politicians want to pardon, fine, but they have to do the time.
Arnold totally screwed the pooch when he reduced Nunez's sentence here. Daddy was the head of the Cali legislature and it was a total political favor.
The whole pardon thing needs to be abolished. No need to let politicians usurp the decisions of the courts and justice system.
...because juries are always correct, yes?
The President is given authority by the Constitution to grant pardons for crimes against the United States in Article II, Section 2...
Beyond that, aren't we talking about States Rights when it comes to pardons?
is there any way to get spanky off this thing? your like a nat. the pardon is in the constitution. i thoiught you were a contitutionalist? oh i know........only when it fit's your thinking. dude go to red state .com with the boob eric erickson and play over there.
Is there anyone who actually understands Haley? He was probably asking his staff to check the requests out and they thought he'd approved them.
This is the guy that Morning Joe and others were trying to get to run for President before the begging of Chris Christie started Now we know why he turned them down. I think he has some decrepancies as governor that he does not want us to know. Remember some these murderers work at the mansion with him. Could this be some hush hush.
Gov. Haley Barbour should be condemed to live next door to each of those he released for a perion of 10 years each. He should be held responsible for them all forever. If that seems too harsh, then let him apply for relief from the rest of us.
Exactly! Haley's a real douchebag.
This seems so parochial, minor doin's in a backwater state. Campare Barbour's usurping of justice to Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. I was a teenager in 1974, but that was truly stomach turning. Talk about a crook that should have seen trial, and a jail cell, "Nixon's the One"!
I was angry also when Tricky Dick was pardoned. Years later I thought about it and believed Ford might have been right to pardon Nixon.... it saved the country huge amounts of international embarrasment and it would have cost a fortune to prosecute him. Flash forward a few more years... Bush the Second. We know what he did. Probably not all that he did, but enough. If Nixon had been prosecuted it might have made even Dubya think twice before committing some of his dirty deeds.
Poor investigative journalism. What were their crimes ? How long were they imprisoned ? Who were these people ? Would it be better for society to keep them in prison ?
What hipocracy. Presidents pardon millioners who commit crimes , but the poor must be punished and stay in jail. O.J. with his millions got away with murder in front of TVs and the press went along.
Barbour needs to be jailed for what he's done! Disgusting!
The only question here is: how much money changed hands? Barbour is as corrupt as a human being can possibly be. He or someone in his family almost certainly got a lot richer. The exchange of money was probably for a few of the criminals released, and the others were simply a smokescreen. Hey, retired crooked governors must have money to live, too!
If Barbour was a Democrat the title of this story would have been DEMOCRAT PUTS POPULACE IN PERIL!! The GOP is supposed to be so tough on crime so why isn't his party affiliation mentioned ? Did I miss it?
what i don't get is these murders can actully get a hunting license!! how the hell you hunt without a gun! what the f*&k is that all about now that is a slap in the face of those who would like to feel safe in their own homes!! and the jury that convicted them... only in missisippi!!
If the NRA supports us having guns, shouldn't we be allowed to use them as we choose. In the army, we learned that the purpose of a weapon is to kill. Period. It is not a home decoration. And if we choose to kill with a legal weapon, why should it be illegal? H. B. was following his Christian instinct to let the Lord provide vengeance and also to give individuals a second chance to redeem their lives. Haley is a good man. Pray for him, don't hate him.
So a convict or an ex-convict have to run an ad in the paper for 30 days to be considered for a pardon? I guess the founders of Mississippi were so forward looking that they realized the day would come when newpapers would need help selling advertising.