cannabisnews.com: Bush Issues Pardons To Seven 










  Bush Issues Pardons To Seven 

Posted by CN Staff on December 23, 2002 at 21:28:13 PT
By Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff Writer 
Source: Washington Post  

President Bush issued the first pardons of his presidency yesterday, offering pre-Christmas mercy to seven men convicted of relatively minor federal offenses ranging from selling moonshine to altering an odometer.Others included a former postal clerk who became a Christian youth minister after stealing money from the mail to buy heroin, and a Wisconsin man who refused the military draft in 1957 because he was a Jehovah's Witness minister.
Presidential pardons touched off a political brouhaha around the time Bush took office two years ago, after President Bill Clinton issued 140 in his last hours in power, including several favors for longtime friends and major Democratic donors. The White House stressed that yesterday's batch was handled through standard legal channels, starting with a petition to the Justice Department, which then makes a recommendation to Bush."What these cases have in common is that each pardon recipient committed a relatively minor offense many years ago, completed his prison sentence or probation and paid any fine, and has gone on to live an exemplary life and to be a positive force in his community," White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee said.Bush signed the pardons Friday, his aides said. The announcement was issued by the Justice Department when Bush was at Camp David and much of his staff had already left for the Christmas holiday. Bush's father stirred controversy in December 1992 when he pardoned six former Reagan administration officials on Christmas Eve, a month before he left office.Olgen Williams, 55, of Indianapolis said in a telephone interview that he learned of his pardon at 10 p.m. Saturday when an official of the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney called. Williams had just returned from a four-hour shift as a volunteer helping provide security at a local shopping mall."I tell young people: Don't let one mistake make you feel that you don't have any hope," Williams said. "I made a mistake but it can work for you like it worked for me."Williams, executive director of a community and family center, is a disciple of former Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith, an early supporter of Bush's presidential campaign and a champion of federal aid for faith-based programs.Williams, who said he became addicted to drugs while serving in the Army in Vietnam and who described himself as "a black militant" back then, said he had sent in his petition two years ago. He was arrested for taking $10.90 out of the mail while working as a sorter at the Indianapolis post office. He said he said he had been taking money for several months to feed a heroin and marijuana habit. He was sentenced in 1971 to a year in prison and served six months.Bush has received 289 requests for pardons. Because of a backlog from the Clinton administration, Bush has denied 569 requests and 2,476 are awaiting action. Bush was known for the slow pace of his pardons in six years as Texas governor, issuing the fewest of any governor in more than 50 years. Legal experts had predicted Bush would be unusually cautious with his pardon power, after the embarrassment early in his governorship of wiping clean the marijuana conviction of a deputy constable who was later accused of stealing cocaine from a drug bust.In addition to Williams, the pardons went to:• Kenneth Franklin Copley of Lyles, Tenn., who was sentenced in Tennessee in 1962 to two years probation for manufacturing untaxed whiskey.• Harlan Paul Dobas of Portland, Ore., who was sentenced in Washington state in 1966 to three months in jail, five years probation and a $1,000 fine for conspiracy involving sale of grain stolen from his employer.• Stephen James Jackson of Picayune, Miss., who was sentenced in Louisiana in 1993 to three years probation and a $500 fine for altering the odometer of a motor vehicle.• Douglas Harley Rogers of Brookfield, Wis., who was sentenced in Wisconsin in 1957 to two years imprisonment for failure to submit to induction into the armed forces, while an ordained minister of the Jehovah's Witness Church. According to Selective Service System statistics, 137,940 men were inducted into the military that year. The draft ended in 1973.• Walter F. Schuerer of Amana, Iowa, who received a $15,000 fine in Iowa in 1989 for making a false statement to the Social Security Administration regarding his employment.• Paul Herman Wieser of Tacoma, Wash., who was sentenced in Washington state in 1972 to 18 months probation for stealing $38,000 worth of copper wire from an interstate shipment.The slow start for Bush's pardons is typical of the most recent presidents. Bush's father issued nine pardons in the first two years of his presidency and 74 over his four years in office, while Clinton granted none in the first few years but then issued 53 in his third year and 396 by the end of his second term.President Ronald Reagan issued 85 in his first two years in office, while President Jimmy Carter granted none in his first year but 162 in his second year. The earliest president for whom the Justice Department records were immediately available was President Harry S. Truman, who granted 377 in his first two years and 1,913 over his nearly eight years in office.The presidential pardon power is granted by the Constitution as part of the president's role as chief law enforcement officer.Staff researcher Margot Williams contributed to this report.Complete Title: Bush Issues Pardons to Seven in First Exercise of Clemency Power Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, December 24, 2002; Page A02 Copyright: 2002 Washington PostContact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml

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Comment #9 posted by fearfull on December 26, 2002 at 07:39:07 PT
A truely wise president
would consider something like pardoning all pot offenders in the country!
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Comment #8 posted by knox42897 on December 24, 2002 at 08:58:44 PT:
 BREAK ME
"The feds don't like it when you buck them, but I'll be damned if they break me," Tucker says. "What kind of American would I be if I just kept my mouth shut?" I feel the exact same way. I too was a prisoner of the Drug War. I've locked up from mexican prison's to the "crazy house" in New York. I've been locked in cages, feed terible food, forcably restrained and heavely "medicated" against my will.It reminds of that song with Gun's and Rose's, "There are some men you just can't reach".I'd be more than Damned, I'd be dead before I break. What kind of American would I be? Well considering I was born in Amsterdam, moms mexican (grandpa actually rode with pancho), dad is German (unlcle Hellmoot did 10 years in Poland, as a POW-Nazi). The point being, I don't know what kind of American I would be, but I know what kind of human I would be. I come from a line of pirates and wariors that have been protecting Cannabis with their lives since the caves. Remember when there was no language? And we just pointed at the stupid bush and smiled with honor. We protected yo then and will defend you now becuase, I come from the plant cannabis, somewhere through evolution. That's why I have cannabinoid's naturally in my brain and can summon them at will.So paron me Mr. Bush, and please allow me to introduce my self, I'm a man of wealth and taste! You can call me Mr. CannaPablo Escobarbis Bush! I will never surreder as that would bring disgrace upon my family!
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on December 24, 2002 at 02:48:47 PT
Fighting the extremely evil empire is the reason
to keep on keepin' on. You, FoM, help Me keep on keepin' on. I read gross government stuff like this story, and I know why to keep on. FORGOTTEN MAN http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2237/a05.htmlSteve Tucker Served a 10-Year Prison Sentence for Selling Light Bulbs. Is America's Drug War Worth It? 
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 23, 2002 at 23:17:59 PT

BGreen
Glad you'll hang out here. This time of year is a time where I think about the past year. The good, bad and the ugly. It's a time when I think about what tomorrow will bring and hopes for peace on earth. The holiday season isn't my favorite time of year so I use it to think. Sometimes I wonder why I bother caring about Cannabis reform. This is very hard emotional work to do but the reality is if I would stop now when will we get another chance? If we can't get the laws changed about Cannabis how will we be able to change any bad laws? I'm calling it a day! Good night to you! LOL!
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Comment #5 posted by BGreen on December 23, 2002 at 23:03:16 PT

We Received 9 Inches This Afternoon
And they're predicting another 7 inches by tomorrow. This really isn't normal for us, especially just a week after deadly tornados.I don't know whether we're going to be able to get to my parents house by Christmas. It may just be my wife and I along with our cat. I'll have my computer on and I'll be hanging out here at C-News with my cyber family, too.I hope you can make it to your sister's house, and I also wish all of your family the peace and love that is the true meaning of Christmas.Bud Green
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 23, 2002 at 22:47:46 PT

BGreen 
I thought that too. Mark Fiore is really good at getting his point across. Hope you have a Merry Christmas. We are going to a family gathering and it will be nice since it has been many years since we've all been together. I'm going to look for news and post any I find from my sisters computer so if there is news it will get posted. We're getting snow it says and so should you be too if you aren't already. Ho Ho Ho!
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Comment #3 posted by BGreen on December 23, 2002 at 22:42:44 PT

That's A Funny Cartoon
except for the underlying truth it represents, which is despicable.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 23, 2002 at 22:33:56 PT

Political Cartoon - Trent Lott
This goes along with this topic too! http://www.markfiore.com/animation/lott.html
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Comment #1 posted by Toad on December 23, 2002 at 22:28:54 PT

Pardons/early release
Sort of on this topic Drudge Report has an article discussing how California may be releasing prisoners early to deal with budget shortages. Gov. Gray Davis's spokesman said drug offenders would be excluded, typical let out the real bastards and keep cannabis users locked up. 
Gray Davis truly is a fundraising machine who stands for nothing. 
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