Bush Granted 189 Pardons; Obama has Granted Just 16: With So Many Black People in Prison under Dead Laws, Is This Acceptable?
President Barack Obama has been a cautious president, to say the least. After stating that he agrees that the War on Drugs was wrong and also agreeing that the crack-to-powder disparity was unacceptable, Obama has been as timid as a church mouse when it comes to using the power of the presidential pen to grant commutations or pardons for any of the tens of thousands of people who remain incarcerated under laws that legislators have deemed to be unjust.
One example of such antiquated laws is the famous crack-to-powder disparity. Under old federal laws, a person would receive a sentence for crack possession that was 100 times longer than the sentence they would receive for powder. As a result, thousands of Americans received sentences that were dozens, even hundreds of years long. One example would be Mario Lloyd in Chicago, who received 14 life sentences for his first offense, even though it was non-violent.
Lloyd has been in prison for nearly 25 years, and his daughter wrote an open letter to the judge who sentenced her father. In the letter, she noted that many of Mario’s children grew up without guidance because their father was away. One of his sons even died as a young man after being shot in Chicago. The question we must ask ourselves is whether or not the world and the black community are better off when so many children have parents who are away in prison during their formative years? Many of these children eventually become prison inmates themselves.
President George W. Bush, a Republican who would hardly be considered friendly to the criminal justice system, granted 189 pardons during his time as president. Bill Clinton granted pardons and clemency to 456 Americans. Barack Obama, a proclaimed liberal who agrees that the War on Drugs was wrong, has granted only 16 pardons during his presidency, and one request for commutation. Most of these people are not African American, and many of them were released from prison long ago. One pardon was granted to Ronald Lee Foster, who received probation and a fine of $20 for mutilating coins in 1963.
Prison rights advocates and those who fight for the families of inmates are outraged by the arguably racist parole and pardon policies put forth by the Obama Administration. While they applaud the election of the first black president, the argument is that even a black person can be held responsible for the promotion of racist policies, even if it is by virtue of non-accountability for the actions of those around him.
Is Barack Obama doing all he can to help with the incarceration problem, or is he providing lip service?
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i don’t understand why as you black people say he is a good president then he should have way more pardons than Bush, right? I mean cmon man!! 16! that as much as Washington did in eight years and he was the least. Look up pardons for presidents. Roosevelt gave out 4000!!!, Clinton 235, Wilson 3000!! And read this article by Pro Publica, a public think tank on how whites get way more attention to pardons than minorities.http://www.propublica.org/article/shades-of-mercy-presidential-forgiveness-heavily-favors-whites Hotep
Bro Imhotep:
These negroids are SICK! THEY DON’T CARE. As, long as they think he ‘loves’ them because he is a mulatto; they will give him a pass.
CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE:
“President Obama has pardoned few black people. Does that matter?
Obama gives fewer pardons than Bush, and almost none to black people, even for clear injustices
TV host to Obama: Pardon people, not just turkeys
Will Obama pick up the pace on pardons in his 2nd term?
One of the primary reasons I supported Barack Obama in 2008 was because of his impressive track record in Illinois reforming the criminal justice system there.
He was able to help bring all sides to the table and craft sensible, meaningful reforms that should take hold throughout the country, including how interrogations are conducted and documented. False confessions is the leading cause of faulty convictions.
During his first term, he did not do a great deal to bring those reforms to the nation. Of course, he was a bit busy dealing with two ground wars, an economy heading for another Great Depression, among many other things. And I thought he did the right thing tackling health reform – because it was possible and probably would not have been again for many years. Kicking that can down the road would have meant more wasted time and money in a system that needed an update, something which at least 7 presidents recognized and tried to do something about.
I became so adamant about the need for health reform I declared he would not be able to get my vote in 2012 had he not been able to secure it. He did.
He was also able to help broker a deal that reduced the crack-powder cocaine disparity from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1. I’d rather it be 1 to 1, but the change to 18 to 1 immediately helped at least 12,000 people, according to early reports, as well as keeping scores of others from being locked away for too long under ill-conceived laws.
So he has done something on this front, when it comes to the criminal justice system, but clearly not enough. Now that we are no longer fighting off another Depression, one of the wars has ended and the other is scheduled to end, I expect him to pick up the baton of criminal justice system reform. And given some of the choices his administration has made concerning the fight against terror, he’s probably going to have to roll back some of the tactics they’ve used, tactics which have unfairly targeted poor people who don’t have the means to fight back, or the influence to get a lot of people to care about their plight – just the sorts of people a president such as Obama must care about.
I don’t know much about the pardon system and suspect the number handed out will pick up in the second term as it seems to for most presidents. And no, the number of black people who have been pardoned or might be pardoned doesn’t matter to me much. I want injustices to be corrected, no matter who has been harmed.”
Ukuthula!
Oh Lordy Lawd! I feel so sanctifmified that the Obama’s are in the White House. Everyday I get up and look at my Time-Life display plate set of the entire family and Bo and go out to the mail box to get my un-employment check. Sike…. lol. I could understand if Obama was a traditional tough on Crime politician. But the fact that none of those Wallstreet Bankers went to jail or any of the men who orchastrated the Predatory Lending scam went to prison after pleading guilty to robbing billions of dollars and ruining millions of people’s lives tells us that isn’t true. Barack has no problem with you being a slave in the Prison Industrial Complex unless you have some money or an Ivy League Education. Welcome to the new guilded age. Rich people don’t go to jail.
Well Said My Brother
“Barack has no problem with you being a slave in the Prison Industrial Complex”
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You are right! Him and his side-kick, just purchased a prison in Illionois, and guess who are going to be the #1 ‘guest’.
PROOF:
“The U.S. Justice Department purchased the correctional facility in Thomson, Ill., for $165 million on Tuesday. (Tribune photo 2009).
Under orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. Justice Department moved forward Tuesday with the purchase of Illinois’ long-dormant Thomson prison, cutting a $165 million check to the cash-strapped state and bypassing the objections of a powerful veteran Republican U.S. House member who had blocked the sale.”
That Boule’ negroid name Eric Holder was also in on the deal!
This guy is nothing, but a puppet for the elite, but negroids THINK, he is making decisions. He’s nothing, but a ‘yes man’, and will continue to cater to foreigners and caucasoid’s needs!
Where are those bath water drinking O’Drama-ites on this one?
Y’all scared to come out of the house?
Ukuthula!
I don’t know about the process for doing PARDONS…but if the crazy rightwing nuts can file all those PETITIONS to “Secede from the Union” — like they did….then there should be some “Negro” PETITIONS with the names of people in prison for no good reason…those who should be pardoned.
Maybe some of these groups like the NAACP or the NAN or others can gather the info and names and get this going. I am one for petitions, formal complaints, and other actions.
I know some of y’all hate all white folks…but a WHITE GOV. did pardon some Black prisoners — who should never have been in jail.
INTERESTING…this WHITE WOMAN GOVERNOR pardoned the Wilmington 10 — this week:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/31/3757579/governor-pardons-wilmington-10.html
Yippeee!!! She pardoned some Black men, who should’ve NEVER WENT TO JAIL!!! Why did she wait so long? She should’ve done this long before she retired!
That ain’t shyt! Why didn’t she pardon the rest of those INNOCENT Black men, who are serving time, and are on death row?
If you think the naacp and nan are gonna do something about this shyt; you’re dumber, than a road house lizard…you will jump and fall, in front of anythang for this mulatto.
You are a caucasoid! I can tell…
DERRICK…. your ignorance is showing…and it is disgusting. On more than one occasion your STUPIDITY has hung out like a funky mop. Most folks just ignore you c**p….the cussing and just utterly sick comments.
And I AM A BLACK WOMAN… with a very good education.
I have degrees in BLACK HISTORY…and unlike you…I don’t just GUESS AT IT or make it up.
I know all sorts of people of many races that would put your little thimble of “knowledge” to shame…but they would not waste time fooling with you.
You seem to think you are doing good by going around this site and others with all of you ugly comments…calling names, degrading people…and spreading your fake conspiracy theories.
And it is YOU…that is worthless. You keep harping on every group…every Black leader…and any idea that others put on here that you don’t like.
IT IS YOU THAT IS UTTERLY SICK AND WORTHLESS.
You offer nothing but foul comments, conspiracy theories, and lies. You may need to get therapy.
GET A JOB OR SOMETHING…but quit STANKING up this website with your sick ideas.
DERRICK …. you are a fool…I can tell.
Is that another one of your nutty conspiracy theories?
BROTHA…. I AM AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN…who has an education. I am not some ‘ghetto hoochie’ that you can buffalo with all your BLACK TALK BALONEY.
There were groups including the NAACP that helped fight for the WILMINGTON 10 to get pardoned.
One thing we know…if they were hoping you would help them…they would still be in there.
Real Black men who really understand the culture and ancient wise teachings from KEMET or the ancient philosophers — understand that they do not insult women.
LOOK THAT UP.
In this case I do. I think the President should jump into the band wagon and pardon a lot more than he has done. Giving Obama’s seeming laidback approach to the issue of pardons(although I dont know whether he might do more pardoning in the future) he would seem the most unlikely President to pardon the like of a SUNDIATA COLLIS, giving the controversies surrounding the role Sundiata played on that New Jersey turnpike. Mr. Collis, like the Wilmington Ten, have languished in jail based on naked racism.
With this write – up, I hope you, Br. Boyce, would raise the consciousness about the continued incaceration of Sundiata Collis. This learned man has been in jail for as long as the just – pardoned Wilmington Ten, if not longer.
Please, Dr. Boyce, use your bully pulpit to sound out the name of Sundiata Collis for the world to hear. His name has faded into people’s unconsciousness. Help rivive it.
Black male’s crime wave across America is well beyond “staggering to the imagination” (ML King quote in his book Why We Can’t Wait [for integration with white people]).
Here’s a short list of what Eric Holder’s people have been up to since white males in Congress (and LBJ) gifted them integration rights into the white community:
http://theinjusticefile.blogspot.com/2012/04/imagery-innocent-white-people.html
I truly do NOT know why white people are still willing to live in this integration system with the black race. They don’t have to…