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| | Prosecutor wants moratorium on clemencies
Friday, Jul 16, 2004 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley on Thursday asked Gov. Mike Huckabee to stop granting clemencies for violent criminals because of the unprecedented number of early prisoner releases during the governor's eight years in office. Jegley said Huckabee has granted 669 clemencies since he became governor in 1996. The previous three governors, Bill Clinton, Frank White and Jim Guy Tucker, granted a total of 507 clemencies during their 18 years in office, Jegley said. "In eight years the governor has granted 31 percent more (clemencies) than the previous three governors did in 18 years in office," Jegley said. The prosecutor said he sent a letter to the governor Thursday asking for a moratorium on issuing of clemencies until the Legislature meets next January to reconsider the provision in the constitution that gives the governor that power. Jegley said he would like to see the constitutional provision changed to require the governor to explain his reasons for granting a clemency. "Our fellow citizens are deserving of better," Jegley said. "They want transparency and accountability in this process. I know they deserve it." Jim Harris, spokesman for the governor, criticized Jegley Thursday for releasing the contents of the letter to the media before Huckabee had had an opportunity to read it. The governor was in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, attending a meeting of the Education Commission of the States. "There are a number of good prosecutors in this state who are working closely with the governor," Harris said. "They contact him in a professional, businesslike manner and don't send their message to him through the news media." Last week, Huckabee issued proclamations granting clemency for Denver Witham, who is serving life in prison for a 1974 murder in Saline County, and for John H. Claiborne, who is serving 375 years in prison for a 1994 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction in Pulaski County. Both men are still in state custody and are waiting parole hearings before the state Post Prison Transfer Board. A board spokeswoman said those hearings probably would be in August. Also last week, the governor announced he planned commute Dennis Lewis' sentence of life in prison without parole to time served contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-release program. Lewis was convicted of capital murder in Washington County Circuit Court in 1975, for shooting a Fayetteville pawnshop owner. Earlier this month, Huckabee issued notice of intent to grant clemency to Glen Martin Green of Jacksonville, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1975 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Jegley, who has criticized the governor several times over the years for granting clemencies for other violent offenders, said Thursday that he decided to write Huckabee after talking to the son of the victims who were kidnapped and robbed by Claiborne. The son said his mother is still alive and is "scared to death" that Claiborne may be released soon, Jegley said. "The jury didn't sentence Claiborne to 340 years in prison so he could be released in 10 years for good behavior," Jegley said. "They sentenced him to 340 years in jail so he would stay their awhile." Jegley said he would like the Legislature to change the current rules concerning the governor's power to grant clemency to include more public disclosure. "We the people have the right to an accounting from the governor when he chooses to go contrary to the people's decision to pardon a violent offender or commute a well-deserved punishment," Jegley said. The prosecutor sent a copy of his letter to the governor to all legislators and asked them to consider his request. "The unprecedented number of pardons and commutations granted by this administration have greatly increased victims' fears, anxieties, and mistrust of the process," he said. According to the information he received from the secretary of state's office, Jegley said White, a Republican, granted 39 clemencies during his two years in office; Tucker granted 42 during his four years in office and Clinton granted 426 during his 12 years in office. Last year, the governor was criticized for granting clemency to James Maxwell, a convicted murderer who worked as a trusty at the Governor's Mansion. Maxwell was later released. Earlier this year, Saline County Prosecutor Robert Herzfeld sued Huckabee when Huckabee granted clemency to Don Jeffers, also a convicted murderer. That clemency was voided after it was revealed that proper procedures weren't followed. Jeffers has reapplied for clemency. In 2001, the governor granted clemency to Willie Way Jr., a convicted murderer, and to Donald Clark, a convicted burglar. Way had worked as a trusty at the mansion, and Clark was the stepson of a governor's office employee. In 1999, the governor supported the release of Wayne DuMond, convicted in the 1984 rape of a woman in Forrest City. DuMond later was convicted of killing a woman in Missouri. |
