So Haley Barbour issued some pardons, and it’s about the absolute worst news possible for people (like me) who think the pardon power should be used substantially more.
Who did Barbour pardon? Well “a number of the recipients were part of a program where certain good-behaving and long-serving convicts served as servants in the governor’s mansion and thus got to know Barbour or his staff.” Which is to say: they earned their pardons by happening to get to know the governor personally, not because of anything particular about their case. Which isn’t to say it’s correct to hold them in jail forever; it’s just a sad comment that even on matters like this it’s all about who you know more than it’s about the validity of your case.
Further, what was Barbour’s stated justification for some of these pardons: that he wanted to restore to felons who had already served their time the rights to hunt, vote, etc. Which, again, is great. I strongly believe that people should not be denied the right (responsibility) to vote because they have committed a felony. But selectively choosing a tiny number of them does nothing to fix the larger inequity.
It makes me sad how rarely the power of the pardon is used in the US. But it also makes me sad how poorly it is used when it finally is employed.
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