President Obama has issued 8 non-Christmas pardons and some are good ones that deserve praise. Last time I brought this issue up, and the time before that, I criticized the President for being stingy with pardons. Some of you took issue with that, including advocating that pardons should only happen around Christmas. My response:
It appears from some of the comments some of you people do not understand or know the history of the pardon power. Pardons were not, prior to the Nixon pardon and the beginning of the "war on crime" era, not thought to be political decisions with political timetables. They were acts of mercy. The modern method of pardoning, which is to wait until there is no political cost to the president, is a thoroughly modern invention. If you do your research, you will learn that President throughout history did not put mercy on a political schedule:
Well, it isn't Christmas. The President has exercised the unchecked pardon power to good use, and he has done it right in the middle of his re-election:
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday pardoned eight people convicted of crimes ranging from conspiring to import marijuana to selling alligator hides.
The action marked the second set of pardons Obama has granted since becoming president. The first pardons, last December, went to nine people whose crimes included possessing drugs, counterfeiting and mutilating coins.
The President has still issued no commutations of sentences, like those of people serving life sentences for non-violent drug convictions. Still, this is a good step in the right direction.
While these pardons are, again, mainly for convictions that were relatively minor, the fact that they are occurring at this time is a good sign the President and the DOJ Pardon Office are getting their act together. As I've explained many times, the pardon power has been historically used with much greater frequency than we've seen since Ronald Reagan's ascent and the "War on Drugs." In fact, even Reagan himself was a more frequent pardoner than we've seen in presidents elected since then, with George W. Bush setting the presidential record as being the least merciful president we've ever had. Even Washington issued more pardons than Bush. I don't know if we will ever get back to Nixon's 30 or 40 pardons and commutations per month, or the hundreds per year of presidents before him, but the President is taking things back in the right direction by going back to non-Christmas pardoning.
Congratulations to those awarded pardons:
Randy Eugene Dyer - Burien, Wash.
Offense: Conspiracy to import marijuana (hashish), 21 U.S.C. § 963; conspiracy to remove baggage from the custody and control of the U.S. Customs Service and convey false information concerning an attempt to damage a civil aircraft, 18 U.S.C. § 371.
Sentence: June 19, 1975; Western District of Washington; five years in prison and two years of special parole (special parole term subsequently vacated.)
Danny Alonzo Levitz - Angola, Ind.
Offense: Conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 371.
Sentence: Aug. 18, 1980; Northern District of Indiana; two years of probation, $400 fine.
Michael Ray Neal - Palm Coast, Fla.
Offense: Manufacture, assembly, modification and distribution of equipment for unauthorized decryption of satellite cable programming, 47U.S.C. § 605(e)(4).
Sentence: May 31, 1991, as amended June 2, 1992; Eastern District of Virginia; six months in prison, three years of supervised release conditioned on six months of home confinement, $2,500 fine.
Edwin Alan North - Wolcottville, Ind.
Offense: Transfer of a firearm without payment of transfer tax, 26 U.S.C. § 5861(e).
Sentence: Aug. 18, 1980; Northern District of Indiana; six months of unsupervised probation.
Allen Edward Peratt Sr. - Sioux Falls, S.D.
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846.
Sentence: July 23, 1990, as amended May 29, 1991; District of South Dakota; 30 months in prison, five years of supervised release.
Christine Marie Rossiter - Lincoln, Neb.
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846.
Sentence: Oct. 7, 1992; District of Nebraska; three years of probation conditioned on performance of 500 hours of community service.
Patricia Ann Weinzatl - Prentice, Wis.
Offense: Structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3).
Sentence: Aug. 15, 2001; Western District of Wisconsin; three years of probation, $5,000 fine.
Bobby Gerald Wilson - Summerton, S.C.
Offense: Aiding and abetting the possession and sale of illegal American alligator hides (Lacey Act), 16 U.S.C. § 3373(d)(1)(B) and 18U.S.C. § 2.
Sentence: Dec. 19, 1985, as amended May 13, 1986; Southern District of Georgia; three and one-half months in prison, five years of probation conditioned on performance of 300 hours of community service.