Once again the Arkansas Journal has cast the light of public attention on Mike Huckabee's record of being soft on lawbreakers.
In this past week, the story of Huckabee's advocacy of the release of Wayne Dumond, the convicted rapist who raped and murdered at least one woman after we was let out of prison, has gained national attention. Of course Huckabee has been minimizing his role in Dumond's release, despite the testimony of at least one parole board member who said he asked the board to release Dumond, believing Dumond was innocent. Huckabee had long advocated Dumond's release before actually meeting with the board.
The LA Times has a piece today with more background on the Dumond case. It mentions the three parole board members who have already come out saying Huckabee pressured the board to let Dumond go. This piece also mentions a pastor friend of Huckabee's, Jay Cole:
Cole, the minister who befriended DuMond, said: "The governor felt compassion for Wayne. He was sorry for him. So, I asked the governor to help. I asked him if anything could be done. And Mike had a lot of people on his neck trying to get him to get Wayne released."
Did "Mike" feel sorry for and feel compassion for Dumond's victim?
One consideration mentioned for Huckabee's willingness to reduce Dumond's sentence was that Dumond supposedly became a born again Christian while in prison:
"I became his spiritual director," Cole said. "He was a nice fella, and it was hard to believe he could have done what he was accused of doing. And Wayne claimed to be saved. So, we'd sit and talk and pray for two hours, and other times he'd call me on the phone a lot. Collect. He was just wanting to know if I'd made any headway finding people who could help his situation."
I know for a fact that people genuinely get saved while in prison. However, even a genuine conversion should not, and I believe in actuality does not, negate their debt to society for their crimes. And cases like Dumond's, where he went on to rape and murder one and possibly two women after his release demonstrate a practical reason for not commuting the sentence of a born-again prisoner. (Sadly, Christians can be some of the most gullible people on the planet, completely ignoring Jesus' admonition to be "as shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves.")
A 2004 report on Huckabee's incredible record of pardons and commutations also came to light this past week. Did you know that Governor Huckabee granted more pardons and commutations than six other neighboring states...combined (their 624 to his 703)? Even more than "pardongate" Bill Clinton when Clinton was governor of Arkansas.
The Arkansas Journal has highlighted one of those criminals Huckabee thought should be freed (he later changed his mind, after being subjected to repeated protests from victim's relatives, local newspapers and prosecutors): Glen Green.
Here's what the Arkansas Leader printed in 2004 regarding why Green was in prison:
Green, a 22-year-old sergeant, kidnapped Helen Lynette Spencer on Little Rock Air Force Base, where he beat and kicked her as he tried to rape her in a secluded area. She broke loose and ran toward the barracks' parking lot, where he caught up with her and beat her with a pair of nunchucks.
He then stuffed her into the trunk of his car and left her there while he cleaned up. Several hours later, he drove down Graham Road, past Loop Road and stopped near a bridge in Lonoke County. Green told investigators he put her body in the front seat and raped her because her body was still warm.
He dragged Spencer out of his vehicle and put her in front of the car and ran over her several times, going back and forth. He then collected himself long enough to dump her body in Twin Prairie Bayou.
Green was serving a life sentence with no parole for this brutal crime.
According to the article, Green said it was an "accident," and apparently Rev. Johnny Jackson, interim pastor at Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville, also spoke up for Green...so it seems this must have been good enough for Huckabee...until he was deluged with protests from people who knew better.
"There is no doubt in my mind that he could kill again," warns Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley.
A different article from the Arkansas Leader provides more details from Don Egelhoff, the lead investigator in the case:
"He can be a Christian and God can forgive him and take him to heaven," said Egelhoff, but while on earth, he needs to finish out his sentence.
"Society doesn't have to give up the right to punish him for what he did."
Egelhoff said if Green has new evidence that his confession was coerced, as he claims, he should have a new trial, not a get-out-of-jail-free card.
"We didn't need a confession," Egelhoff says. "We had enough physical evidence and eye witnesses to convict him in a court."
"He had a vintage Thunderbird," he said. "We found hair and blood in the trunk of the car, under the undercarriage of his car. She was still alive when she was run over based on autopsy findings, he said.
She may not have known she was pregnant.
"When I talked with him, he had no remorse. He said he was glad he'd been caught, it had been bothering him."
After Green kicked her off the bridge, he told Egelhoff, he howled at the moon.
Another of the Arkansas Leader's articles tells of another criminal Huckabee apparently considered worthy of clemency:
Huckabee also likes Denver Witham, a fellow musician who plays in the Cummins Prison band and is serving life without parole.
Witham, who was also granted clemency last week, beat his victim with a lead pipe during a robbery in a Saline County cemetery.
Yet another Arkansas Leader article tells of more dirtbags unleashed on society, quoting Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley:
Jegley cites numerous examples of Huckabee's freeing felons who go on committing more crimes and wind up back in prison.
Maurice Clemmons received a 35-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later.
The following March, Clemmons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years. You'd think they'd keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and is now wanted for aggravated robbery.
One can hope Huckabee has since wised-up, as he has revised his message on civil unions and done a 180 on illegal aliens.
Unfortunately for the victims of these animals released upon society by Huckabee's "compassion," even if he has come around, it's too late for them.
1 comments:
There is nothing Personal. Huckabee is not good enough. He's to weak and compromised. Sure, there may be some who want to discredit him because of some polictical rivary. But ths is not some stupid fight among freemasons trying to discredit each other. Huckabee is decieving as George Bush. Huckabee is dangerous. He can not be trusted. I question his Christianity too.
Please check out my rant on the free republic. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1920628/posts
It's the same serenade as George Bush. We need a strong man. Duncan Hunter is the only one that can do it.
danny
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