President George Bush commuted the 30-month sentence of Former Vice President Dick Cheney chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted in March on federal charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators. Presidential commutations are final, not subject to review by court or Congress.
Reaction was swift. In general, Democrats considered the action an affront to justice, while Republicans said it was the right thing to do. Just what are the statistics for clemency – that is, commutations, sentence reductions, and pardons – by President? And did George Washington pardon anyone?
Not everyone wants a pardon: Presidential pardons may be refused – and have been. In 1915 the city editor of the New York Herald Tribune refused to divulge his sources, received and refused a pardon from President Wilson, and was convicted of contempt. But Presidential commutations may not be refused. In 1927 an inmate named Vuco Perovich was sentenced to death but received a Presidential commutation to life. Perovich sued to overturn the commutation but lost - and lived.
Since 1900, FDR leads the pack with 3,687 clemency actions. In contrast, Bush has granted clemency fewer times – 113 – than any president in history except Zachary Taylor, John Adams, George Washington, James Garfield, William Harrison, and, this is interesting, his dad, with 77.
One of the most interesting pardons was the one George Washington gave to the Whiskey Rebels, who protested an excise tax on liquor and distilled spirits – imposed to bring down the national debt – by organizing a rebellion with 13,000 militia – about the size of the Revolutionary army – against the new American government in 1794. Twenty of the rebels were pardoned on Washington’s last day in office.
But the record for most pardons in a day goes to the only President to have received a Presidential pardon: Richard Nixon, who pardoned 204 criminals on December 20, 1972. Do we see a potentially new Presidential pardon pattern? Or could it just be that justice may now be obstructing obstruction of justice.
Showing posts with label Richard Nixon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Nixon. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Pets
Presidential candidates have their every move scrutinized, even on family trips, as Republican Mitt Romney found out after strapping Seamus, his Irish settler, to the roof of his car, giving top dog a new meaning.
Not even pets escape politics: Berkeley, California and Boulder, Colorado each passed laws clarifying pet status: people don’t own pets; they are the pet’s guardian. Organizations such as PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, work on the animal’s behalf – they called Romney’s treatment of Seamus torture. US Presidents are not above using pets to get their way. Bill Clinton had Socks the cat, and Buddy, the Lab, to try to keep us feeling warm and fuzzy, and a cocker spaniel named Checkers went on TV to help his, er, guardian Richard Nixon keep his job as VP candidate in 1952.
Overpopulation is a concern, especially with cats. Here’s the math: a single female cat and her offspring could produce over 400,000 cats over a seven year period if not spayed or neutered. No wonder there are 73 million cats in the US!
Animals are often smarter than people:
Authorities have successfully forecast a major earthquake, based in part on the observation of the strange antics of animals. In 1975, in part based on the strange behavior of local animals, Chinese officials evacuated Haicheng, a city of one million people and who knows how many dogs and cats, just days before a 7.3-magnitude quake hit. It was estimated that 150,000 fatalities and injuries were avoided.
Law enforcement agencies use dogs to track, rescue, and detect drugs and bombs because dogs have 25 times more olfactory receptors and can sense odors at one hundred million times lower concentrations than humans.
Dogs hear better too. They can detect sounds as low as 16 Hz, 20% lower than humans, and 45 kHz, three times higher than humans. Their ears have eighteen muscles that tilt, rotate and raise, making it possible to identify a sound's location much faster than a human, and hear sounds up to four times the distance.
Seamus is particularly smart: he let Romney know who’s the boss; by relieving himself on the roof of the car during the trip. He didn’t even have to clean it up.
Not even pets escape politics: Berkeley, California and Boulder, Colorado each passed laws clarifying pet status: people don’t own pets; they are the pet’s guardian. Organizations such as PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, work on the animal’s behalf – they called Romney’s treatment of Seamus torture. US Presidents are not above using pets to get their way. Bill Clinton had Socks the cat, and Buddy, the Lab, to try to keep us feeling warm and fuzzy, and a cocker spaniel named Checkers went on TV to help his, er, guardian Richard Nixon keep his job as VP candidate in 1952.
Overpopulation is a concern, especially with cats. Here’s the math: a single female cat and her offspring could produce over 400,000 cats over a seven year period if not spayed or neutered. No wonder there are 73 million cats in the US!
Animals are often smarter than people:
Authorities have successfully forecast a major earthquake, based in part on the observation of the strange antics of animals. In 1975, in part based on the strange behavior of local animals, Chinese officials evacuated Haicheng, a city of one million people and who knows how many dogs and cats, just days before a 7.3-magnitude quake hit. It was estimated that 150,000 fatalities and injuries were avoided.
Law enforcement agencies use dogs to track, rescue, and detect drugs and bombs because dogs have 25 times more olfactory receptors and can sense odors at one hundred million times lower concentrations than humans.
Dogs hear better too. They can detect sounds as low as 16 Hz, 20% lower than humans, and 45 kHz, three times higher than humans. Their ears have eighteen muscles that tilt, rotate and raise, making it possible to identify a sound's location much faster than a human, and hear sounds up to four times the distance.
Seamus is particularly smart: he let Romney know who’s the boss; by relieving himself on the roof of the car during the trip. He didn’t even have to clean it up.
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