CA Governor Brown Gives Clemency to 79; Most Were Drug Offenders
December 26, 2012 09:17:48 am
California Gov. Jerry Brown gave clemency to 79 people on Monday, offering full pardons to more people in a single day than some of the state's governors have in their entire tenure, reports the Los Angeles Times. For the most part, those pardoned were small-time drug offenders. Many who served little to no time in prison had secured pardon recommendations years ago from their local courts. One Sacramento man, who served a year in jail on a 1968 grand theft charge, had been eligible for pardon since 1973. The most serious case involved a Los Angeles woman, 80-year-old Bertha Fairley, who received clemency for a 1971 involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Brown's acts of clemency grace only a small set of those who become eligible every year. The majority of those pardoned had persuaded local Superior Courts to award them a certificate of rehabilitation. The service is free through the county public defender's office. From January through November, the Los Angeles County Superior Court sent the governor's office the names of 60 people recommended for pardons. John Garbin, the paralegal who handles pardon applications for the county public defender's office, said he's seen only six granted in his career.
Posted by Epifanio
Thursday, January 03, 2013 08:25
I really like the idea of crilanims being made to do something good for their community, but there needs to be some limits. For many non-violent crimes, work gangs that help keep taxes down by working maintenance jobs and stuff like that help out a community and let the criminal contribute something good. Violent crilanims though are a different breed altogether. I don’t want a child molester cutting the field at Little League. I don’t want a rapist passing out meals at the women’s shelter. Violent crime implies zero respect from humanity. What lifts us above animalism is respect for life. These people have zero respect for life. What puts Government in the position to be able to take life in this regard is that Government is not human. It is a corporation. It has little respect for human life either. The Law is not human, it, like other human ideals is above humanity. Otherwise, Law, Justice, Beauty, Love none of those things have any weight if they are not on a plane above human existence for us to strive for. Although Restorative Justice is a constructive and cost effective solution for petty crimes and non-violent offenders, violent offenders must be treated differently.I had heard of projects like these before, but I had never known of them as Restorative Justice. Thanks for the vocab term, If you don’t mind, I’ll link to you on my front page.