Court backs Haley Barbour, rules governor has power to pardon at will

The Mississippi Supreme Court found Haley Barbour's pardon of 203 inmates upon leaving office in January constitutional, reaffirming a governor's unique power to override the justice system.

|
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Haley Barbour, former Republican governor of Mississippi, speaks at a General Electric conference on 'American Competitiveness: What Works' in Washington on February 13.

Arguing for four convicted murderers pardoned by Gov. Haley Barbour, attorney Tom Fortner told the Mississippi Supreme Court last month that, “I believe the governor has the right to reach his hand into prison and pull out a handful of people and pardon them.”

In a 6-to-3 decision on Thursday, the court agreed, striking down claims by Attorney General Jim Hood that many of the unprecedented 203 pardons Mr. Barbour granted upon leaving office in January had not been properly announced to the public, as the Mississippi Constitution requires. The ruling reaffirmed the separation of powers between the state's three branches of government, and, in essence, prevents the judiciary from getting, as one attorney said, “inside the governor's head.”

Shocking to families of victims, and a relief to dozens of inmates whose futures lay in the court's hands, the decision also reaffirmed the unique power of a governor to nullify jury verdicts and ignore judges in order to offer redemption for reformed criminals. Largely as a result of the ruling, several proposed pardon reform bills introduced in the legislature died in committee on Thursday.

"This was not only about the power of the pardon or even the power of the office, but about the ability of a governor to grant mercy,” Barbour said in a statement. “These were decisions based on repentance, rehabilitation, and redemption, leading to forgiveness and the right defined and given by the state constitution to the governor to offer such people a second chance.”

Representing a populist outcry about the pardons – which marred the last days in office of an otherwise popular governor who oversaw the state's recovery from hurricane Katrina – Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said most of the pardons had not met a constitutional 30-day publication requirement intended to “let people comment, so there wasn't a last minute rush and errors in the pardons themselves.”

Three justices concurred with Mr. Hood's assessment. “Today's decision is a stunning victory for some lawless convicted felons, and an immeasurable loss for the law-abiding citizens of our state,” Justice Michael Randolph wrote in his dissent.

The people of Mississippi may yet have the last word on the governor's pardon power, however.

Mr. Hood said Thursday he's planning to introduce a ballot initiative that would put the onus on the judicial branch to enforce the 30-day notification requirement. "I am calling on all our victims' groups, law enforcement and other volunteers to help me obtain the necessary signatures to place the measure on the ballot,” he said.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Court backs Haley Barbour, rules governor has power to pardon at will
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0309/Court-backs-Haley-Barbour-rules-governor-has-power-to-pardon-at-will
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe