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| Clemmons, Gregoire & Huckabee |
| By seattlepi.com |
| Published: 12/17/2009 |
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Governor Gregoire has pointed fingers at the Arkansas Department of Corrections and former Governor Mike Huckabee in the case of Maurice Clemmons and the Lakewood police murders. Perhaps she should have saved a few of those pointing fingers for herself and her very own Department of Corrections right here in Washington. Here's the situation: From a U. S. News & World Report editorial by John Aloysius Farrell (who can't spell Tacoma, but otherwise has sensible things to say): Putting aside what happened in Takoma, it is hard to argue that Huckabee did the wrong thing. At the age of 16, in 1989, Clemmons had been sentenced in Arkansas to 108 years for burglary and robbery without a weapon. Silly Mike Huckabee thought that an upper-class white kid might have gotten a different sentence for that particular crime. And so, after Clemmons had served 11 years in prison, Huckabee commuted the sentence so that the convict might have an opportunity to persuade a parole board that he deserved a second chance. The parole board agreed. But by now Clemmons had grown to manhood in the gentle precincts of a state prison system. He was charged with further crimes, and bureaucratic stumbling allowed him to remain at large--until Takoma. Much of the bureaucratic stumbling Mr. Farrell was referring to was in the state of Washington, by our own Department of Corrections. A DOC employee has provided documents to Scott St. Clair of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation indicating a mix up in Clemmons records (in Washington) may have led directly to Mr. Clemmons being let out on bail (in Washington) just weeks before he killed the four Lakewood police officers (in Washington). Actions taken by anybody in Arkansas over 9 years ago are not to blame, no matter how much Gov. Gregoire might like to pass the buck to Huck. Read More. |
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