Here is the crux of his statement. As typical for media - they basically lie in the headline to attack. Notice that they only do this to Conservatives.
1st) He DID NOT "FREE" him. He reduced his sentence from over 100 years to 47. Had the parole board done its job the guy would still be in prison
2nd) it was at the recommendation of all 5 review board members
3rd) the Parole came after - then he did more crimes so they locked him up AGAIN. But the prosecutor screwed up by letting him go.
4th) as to Willy Horton - Dukakis did not just reduce his sentence - he let him go scott free. - a world of difference than this case...but anything to take out a potential viable Republican.
"Each state is different, but in Arkansas, a governor doesn't initiate a parolethe Post Prison Transfer Board does after it conducts a thorough review of an inmate's file and request. The board then makes a recommendation to the governor, who decides to grant or deny."
"If the decision is made to grant any form of clemency (the broad term for a commutation or a full pardon), the governor gives notice of intent and the file is sent to the prosecutor, judge, law enforcement officials, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State as well as to the news media. A period of 30 days is then started for there to be public input as well as response from the above named officials. At the end of the public response period, the final decision is rendered. "
"Between 1,000 and 1,200 requests for some form of clemency came to my desk each and every one of the 10 years I was governor. Ninety-two percent of the time, I denied the requests. When I did grant them, it was usually based on the recommendation of at least five of the members of the PPTB, with consideration given to the input from public officials."
"Maurice Clemmons was 16 years old when he was charged with burglary and robbery. He was sentenced to a total of 108 years based on the way in which the sentences were stacked. For the crimes he committed and the age at which he committed the crimes, it was dramatically outside the norm for sentencing. The PPTB recommended in 2000 by a 5-0 vote for his sentence to be commuted."
"He had served 11 years of his sentence. A pardon would have set him free and cleared his record. A commutation to "time served" would have set him free and released him from any parole reporting. As per the recommendation, I commuted his sentence to the term of 47 years, still a long sentence for the type of crime he had committed, but it would make him parole eligible. It would not parole him, as governors do not have that power in Arkansas. He would have to separately apply for parole and meet the criteria for that."
"Despite news reports to the contrary, the only record of public response to the notice to commute was from the trial judge, who recommended the commendation in concert with the board. There were letters of support, but no record of letters of opposition."
"Following the commutation, he met the criteria for parole and was paroled to supervision in late 2000. When he violated terms of his parole by participating in additional crimes, he was returned to prison and should have stayed there. For reasons only the prosecutor can explain, charges were not brought forth in a timely way and the prosecutor ended up dropping the charges, allowing him to leave prison and return to supervised parole."
