I was embarrassed to read Bob Herbert's new op-ed in the New York Times today. One of the men behind the machinery of the current GOP is Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi. His term ends in 2012. Herbert's column concerns the Scott Sisters of Mississippi, two (black) women arrested in 1993 for robbery. They were sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Read more here. Herbert contrasts other pardons Barbour has made against this one he refuses to consider.
It's worth mentioning the Scott Sisters didn't hurt anyone -- and stole a grand total of $11. From people they knew.
More below...
Herbert notes that Haley Barbour has pardoned 5 people since 2008:
• Bobby Hays Clark was pardoned by the governor. He was serving a long sentence for manslaughter and aggravated assault, having shot and killed a former girlfriend and badly beaten her boyfriend.
• Michael David Graham had his life sentence for murder suspended by Governor Barbour. Graham had stalked his ex-wife, Adrienne Klasky, for years before shooting her to death as she waited for a traffic light in downtown Pascagoula.
• Clarence Jones was pardoned by the governor. He had murdered his former girlfriend in 1992, stabbing her 22 times. He had already had his life sentence suspended by a previous governor, Ronnie Musgrove.
• Paul Joseph Warnock was pardoned by Governor Barbour. He was serving life for the murder of his girlfriend in 1989. According to Slate, Warnock shot his girlfriend in the back of the head while she was sleeping.
• William James Kimble was pardoned by Governor Barbour. He was serving life for the murder and robbery of an elderly man in 1991.
Haley Barbour's compassionate conservativism allowed him to see these men in a new light and give them a second chance. Wait, no, all of the men worked in the Governor's Mansion through a prison program. But if they are given a second chance, despite rather graphic and horrendous crimes, why hasn't Barbour pardoned the Scott sisters -- one of which is fatally ill?
Unlike these pardoned crimes, theirs was not violent; no one died. Of course, the Scott sisters haven't been working in the governor's mansion either. I know it's a bit presumptuous to ask but -- Is Barbour trying to hide something by getting these people off? Why pardon only those who have close contact with him, despite horrifically violent crimes? It seems highly irresponsible.
Herbert finishes his article:
An affidavit submitted to the governor on behalf of the Scott sisters says: “Jamie and Gladys Scott respectfully pray that they each be granted a pardon or clemency of their sentences on the grounds that their sentences were too severe and they have been incarcerated for too long. If not released, Jamie Scott will probably die in prison.”
As they are both serving double life sentences, a refusal by the governor to intervene will most likely mean that both will die in prison.
To sum up, Haley Barbour has let 5 men go from prison after brutal murders but has not yet stepped up to help the Scott sisters. It's worth noting the kind of reaction this gets from the conservatives: when a giant protest happened in Jackson, MS, calling for a pardon for the Scott sisters -- some compassionate conservatives responded with unmasked racism (later redacted from the blogger site), implying that all the protesters were unemployed. Because they're black. Heh heh. Etc.
This is the future of the House of Representatives, unless we step up and fight the nonsense.
Haley Barbour is the former head of the Republican National Committee, the current chair of the Republican Governors Association, and Governor of Mississippi.