Bush pardons 19, commutes sentence of meth dealer
source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/23/bush.pardons/index.html
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- pjacobs51
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President George W. Bush granted pardons Tuesday to 19 citizens charged with a variety of crimes, but none was prominent.
Presidential pardon lists are being closely monitored in the final weeks of the Bush administration, particularly to see whether former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby will be granted the presidential favor.
One of the men pardoned is Charles Winters, who died almost 25 years ago. His son had worked on winning a presidential pardon for his dad, who had helped smuggle weapons to Jews fighting in what was then Palestine in the late 1940s.
A Protestant from Boston, Massachusetts, Winters spent 18 months behind bars. He was the only U.S. citizen to serve time for helping fly weapons to Jews struggling to create Israel.
A 20th person received a commutation of a life sentence for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. That individual, Reed Raymond Prior, was ordered released from prison in February 2009. He will have served more than 12 years.
"We commend President Bush's decision to grant a commutation to Reed Prior, who is deserving of a second chance," Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said in a written statement.
"Of course, clemencies only underscore the larger problem -- the systemic injustice caused by mandatory minimum sentences that fill the prisons with low-level drug offenders in the first place."
Presidential pardon lists are being closely monitored in the final weeks of the Bush administration, particularly to see whether former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby will be granted the presidential favor.
One of the men pardoned is Charles Winters, who died almost 25 years ago. His son had worked on winning a presidential pardon for his dad, who had helped smuggle weapons to Jews fighting in what was then Palestine in the late 1940s.
A Protestant from Boston, Massachusetts, Winters spent 18 months behind bars. He was the only U.S. citizen to serve time for helping fly weapons to Jews struggling to create Israel.
A 20th person received a commutation of a life sentence for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. That individual, Reed Raymond Prior, was ordered released from prison in February 2009. He will have served more than 12 years.
"We commend President Bush's decision to grant a commutation to Reed Prior, who is deserving of a second chance," Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said in a written statement.
"Of course, clemencies only underscore the larger problem -- the systemic injustice caused by mandatory minimum sentences that fill the prisons with low-level drug offenders in the first place."
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jh64487
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did...did bush just state that the drug laws were unethical and too harsh? cause I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he just did.
- 3 years ago
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jh64487
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Jeffnfun631
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As Bush was quoted as saying.. "Should I decide to grant pardons, I will do so in a fair way. I will have the highest of high standards. Hes doing his job the right way
- 3 years ago
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Jeffnfun631
