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Newsbrief:
The
Complete
List
of
President
Bush's
Drug
War
Prisoner
Pardons
12/26/03
American presidents have
traditionally used the Christmas holiday season to hand out the gift of
freedom to a few unfortunates locked up behind bars. The presidential
power to grant pardons is unfettered, despite cries of special favors directed
at President Clinton for his pardons of a handful of well-connected non-drug
offenders. Clinton also used his pardon power to free some drug offenders,
and previous presidents have used the power to free other convicted criminals.
 |
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| George Bush pardons turkeys but not humans |
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According to a Christmas
Eve report in the Wall Street Journal, Bush had issued only 11 pardons
as of September 30, leaving him ahead of only Presidents William Henry
Harrison and James Garfield, both of whom died shortly after taking office.
At the same points in their presidencies, other recent presidents were
far ahead of Bush's pace: Clinton had issued 56 pardons; Bush, Sr.,
39; Reagan, 181; Carter, 319; Ford, 404; Nixon; 522; Johnson, 925; Kennedy,
391; and way back at the beginning of the modern drug war era, Eisenhower,
132.
Bush's pardons have been
for "very safe cases," the Journal reported, including a man who got probation
in 1962 for making moonshine, a minister sentenced to two years in 1957
for not reporting for his military induction, and a 1971 case where a postal
worker served one year for stealing $10.90 from the mail. Bush was
also stingy with pardons as governor: He pardoned fewer people than
any Texas governor since the 1940s. But one of those he did pardon,
an unpaid constable convicted on a marijuana charge, went on to get caught
stealing cocaine in a drug raid.
Bush apparently cannot get
over the errant constable. He pardons two turkeys every Thanksgiving
(https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/313/turkeys.shtml),
but is content to let hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders
continue to rot in prison. The complete list of the Bush drug prisoner
pardons follows:
...
The end. That's right:
Nobody. Merry Christmas, Mr. President.
-- END --
|
Issue #317, 12/26/03
Message from the Executive Director: Another Year at DRCNet and in Drug Policy Reform |
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The New Jersey Weedman is Back! Forchion Announces House Bid Before Arrest at Liberty Bell Pot-Smoking Religious Demo |
Newsbrief: The Complete List of President Bush's Drug War Prisoner Pardons |
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Newsbrief: Return of the Undead, Part II -- Arch-Drug Warrior McCollum Seeks Florida GOP Senate Nod |
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BUSTED: New and Improved Video Offer from DRCNet |
DRCNet Temporarily Suspending Our Web-Based Write-to-Congress Service Due to Funding Shortfalls -- Your Help Can Bring It Back -- Keep Contacting Congress in the Meantime |
Perry Fund Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
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