Obama issues pardons to 17 for minor offenses
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama on Friday issued pardons for 17 people, largely for minor offenses.
Those receiving pardons came from 13 states and had been sentenced for crimes that included falsely altering a money order, unauthorized acquisition of food stamps, drug violations, and possession of an unregistered firearm.
No one well-known was on the list released by the White House. Some of the crimes drew light penalties in the first place such as a North Carolina woman sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service for distributing satellite cable decryption devices.
A dozen of the 17 had been placed on probation. The other five had been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 54 days to five years. For those placed on probation, the length ranged from one year to five years.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-issues-pardons-17-people
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Kudos to him.
Poll_Blind
(23,864 posts)...Jonathan Pollard when he visits in a few weeks, IIRC.
"Oops, too late. Sorry, I just did the yearly pardon! Maybe next year, guys!"
There was already a story posted to DU within the last week or so about upcoming protests in Israel to release the traitor Pollard.
Just a guess, but the timing...
PB
jbp23
(12 posts)Come on, give me a break. George W. gave more pardons than Obama has. The only pardon he gave last year was to the White House Thanksgiving turkey! The use or lack of use of the pardon power tells a lot about a president. And Obama's lack of using it tells us what kind of man he is. He has given out less pardons than any recent president.
He is so devoid of emotions or lack of outrage towards injustice that it is astounding. For example, Jack Johnson, the 1st black Heavyweight champ was sentenced to fed prison for violation of the Mann Act, he basically took a white woman across state lines and he was sent to prison for it. Now everyone has been on board with giving Johnson a pardon, dems and repubs. John Mccain has been a persistent advocate for giving Johnson a posthumous pardon. But guess what, the 1st black Attorney General and the 1st black President have refused to correct this injustice. At 1st they would refuse to answer questions as to why not give the man a a much deserved pardon, until finally they gave an answer. And the answer was he's dead and we think we should give our time and pardon those who are still living. What a sad statement especially when Obama rarely pardon's anyone except those with minor crimes like the ones listed today.
Like I said before this tells us a lot about the kind of man Obama is. I believe he has no feelings or ability to forgive those who may deserve a pardon because it might make him look soft on crime or it might make him look like he is favoring black people. And to give him praise for the pardons he did today when he is so undeserving of such praise just makes me ill.
We need to stop taking sides, we think just because the republicans are our enemy, so to speak, we must always take sides with Obama and the dems. I believe you only follow a certain politician or political party when they have the same beliefs as you do. Once that political party or politician abandons those beliefs we should abandon them. It is obvious that since the 1990's the dems and Obama (followed suit) have abandoned democratic ideals. They are only dems in name only. When a Democratic President (for 2 terms) puts in place a republican to head the Defense dept and when a Democratic President replaces and constantly mentions and praises Ronald Reagan in his speeches instead of LBJ and Roosevelt then its time to abandon him and start calling him out for who he really is.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)And note well that these are pardons, not commutations.
No one is walking out of jail. They've already done their time.
He could pardon every medical marijuana prisoners sitting in the federal pens, for starters.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)it could be that they have straightened their life out and are applying for a job that requires no criminal background.
Hard Assets
(274 posts)chuckstevens
(1,201 posts)Karl "Fucking" Rove is the one who should be the one in jail. Shame on Barack Obama!
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)person I thought of in reading the title of this thread. But we can rest ASSured that that boat ain't gonna get rocked by Obama.
no_hypocrisy
(45,774 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)In a state known for injustice, Siegelman is one of the biggest ones.
Gabby Hayes
(289 posts)And the Galveston Giant. Let Jack Johnson have some rest.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)davidpdx
(22,000 posts)They have to go through a process and it's not easy, my guess is it's even harder at the federal level. Lots of paperwork, court records, FBI records, etc. Obama will probably play it safe and pardon a bunch at the end of his term.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)red dog 1
(27,648 posts)Perhaps if half a million of us sign the petition to Obama to free Siegelman, he will
HAVE to pardon him?.......or perhaps not...but at least it's worth a try.
http://www.donsiegelman.org/
davsand
(13,420 posts)I saw an article in the local paper about the pardons:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts-police-and-fire/2013-03-01/obama-pardons-local-lawyer%E2%80%99s-clients.html
From the article:
"...Both of them were convicted in the early 1990s of felony conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods.
"They made the mistake of screening some Gucci and other designer sweaters, and they did not have permission to do so," Beckett said.
Kozeliski was sentenced to one year of probation with six months of home confinement and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Ragee was sentenced to one year of probation with six months of home confinement and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine..."
According to their attorney (who is a really nice guy and a long time friend of mine) they applied for pardons under Bush and have been waiting all this time.
Why they would get pardons and other people would not, I have NO idea...
Laura