-Caveat Lector-
Pardon Me?
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Sometime within the next two days, in the last hours of his
presidency, Bill Clinton will exercise his Constitutional power
to grant clemency to a lucky group of federal convicts.
Securities fraudster Michael Milken wants to be pardoned. So do a
slew of other high profile white-collar criminals. So does
convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Leonard Peltier, convicted of
killing two federal agents, wants his jail term commuted. Susan
McDougal and others caught up in the Whitewater scandal want
Clinton to act now. And hundreds of non-violent drug offenders --
victims of Clinton's misguided war on drugs -- want out of
prison. In Washington, rumors are flying as to who will get a
pardon and who won't.
The U.S. Constitution gives the President the power to pardon
anyone for a federal crime. Other than political retribution,
there are no checks on the President's pardon power.
If you are in jail, and you believe that the sentence was unjust,
you can petition the President to commute your sentence.
Or if you have already paid your fine, and done your time, you
can petition the President for a pardon. You would want to get a
pardon because there are a long list of civil disabilities that
hang on a felony conviction -- barred from securities industry,
can't vote, hunt, get certain licenses in many states -- that you
might want to relieve yourself of. And the President can do this
for you. Ninety-five percent of all those granted clemency since
1977 have fallen into the second category -- pardons.
For more than 100 years, the Justice Department has had a Pardon
Attorney. It's the Pardon Attorney's job to process petitions for
clemency, and make recommendations to the President. The Pardon
Attorney receives close to 1,300 petitions per year. But most
presidents only grant clemency to a handful every year -- Clinton
has granted only 280 in his eight years as President.
Margaret Colgate Love, the Justice Department's Pardon Attorney
from 1990 to 1997, believes that the pardon power has been
underused. Love believes that pardons can and should be used as a
policy tool -- to send political signals about what is right and
wrong with our criminal justice system.
On December 22, 2000, for example, President Clinton commuted the
sentences of two women serving decades-long sentences for minor
roles in drug offenses.
"The President can and should do more," said Rev. Bernard Keels,
a member of the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency, a group of more
than 700 faith leaders who recently sent a letter to President
Clinton urging him to grant clemency to low-level, nonviolent
Federal drug offenders.
We fear that in the next two days, Clinton will do the
Clintonesque thing -- protect his white-collar friends by
pardoning them or commuting their sentences, and at the same time
trying to cover his tracks by commuting the sentences of only a
handful of the thousands of non-violent drug offenders who don't
have the high-powered legal talent, resources, or connections
necessary to get the President's attention.
Last year, Clinton pardoned the former powerful member of the
House Ways and Means Committee Dan Rostenkowski, convicted of
crimes related to allegations that he padded his pockets while in
office. Rostenkowski and his highly connected political friends
had visited the White House a number of times since his
conviction in 1993.
The Rostenkowski pardon reminds us of similar pardons for the
politically connected and powerful in the past -- the pardons of
the convicted multinational businessman Armand Hammer and of the
convicted New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.
And we fear that Clinton may misuse that power again -- this time
by pardoning those he wishes to silence -- or pay back for
silence -- in the Whitewater matter. Of course, Clinton can
pardon anyone he wants, for any reason. He can even type up a
pardon for himself, stick it in his pocket, and not tell anyone
about it -- until an indictment comes down.
But with pardons, like with other aspects of the criminal justice
system, you get what you pay for. And this is the season where
the white collar criminals have paid big bucks to hire slick
Washington, D.C. lawyers to work the system.
Michael Milken's lawyers thought they scored a coup last week
when the New York Times ran an article headlined "Ex-Financier
Milken in Line for a Pardon, Officials Say." The Times reported
that "lawyers said that federal prosecutors who might have
criticized the pardon had not raised any protest with the White
House since news of the possibility of a pardon was first
published last month."
In fact, prosecutors had vigorously objected to the possibility
of a pardon for Milken, and two days later, the Times was forced
to run an extraordinary correction, in which the paper of record
quoted a letter from Securities and Exchange Commission
Enforcement chief Richard Walker as saying that while Milken's
well-known philanthropy was commendable, "it cannot erase his
simultaneous illegal conduct, conduct that occurred after he was
convicted and after he was released from prison."
"Philanthropy cannot provide a license to violate the law,"
Walker wrote. Kathleen Dean Moore, a professor of philosophy at
Oregon State University, recently advised Clinton to grant
pardons that "can be justified as acts of mercy or acts of
justice -- the two greatest virtues of a ruler." Good advice, if
he takes it. We fear he won't. Watch out for more political
favoritism to the corporate and white-collar elite that has
sustained Clinton throughout his presidency.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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