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Subscribe to RSSPete Williams reports on Thursday's hearing.
Updated at 2:26 p.m. ET: JACKSON, Miss. – Attorneys for a group of inmates told the Mississippi Court on Thursday that former Gov. Haley Barbour's decision to pardon nearly 200 people, including some convicted murderers, during his last hours in office was constitutional.
The Mississippi Supreme Court was holding the hearing to determine whether Barbour's pardons are valid.
Attorney Thomas Fortner said that previous pardon rulings suggest the governor's pardon power is absolute and cannot be reviewed by judges.
"If you have a valid pardon signed by the governor ... it is not open to judicial review," Fortner told the court.
"The governor as the chief executive is granted the power to pardon and is the judge of the propriety of the publication," he said. "The constitution does not give the power to anybody to review that."
Attorney General Jim Hood, arguing for the state, contended that pardon power is not absolute and that courts can review the constitutionality of the governor's acts. He also contended that if ads notifying the public weren't run in daily papers every day for 30 days, or weekly newspapers once a week for five weeks, the pardons aren't valid.
Rogelio V. Solis / AP
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, right, listens as attorney Thomas Fortner, left, who represents a group of former inmates, tells the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday that former Gov. Haley Barbour's pardons of them are valid.
"We agree that the wisdom of the governor in granting a pardon, and to whom he grants that pardon, is not an issue that we’re concerned with,” Hood told the justices. “What a court does have jurisidiction to address is whether or not that pardon itself is valid, whether it violates our constitution.”
Several victims and family members of victims were among those in attendance watching the arguments.
Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said no decision would be announced Thursday, but did not say when the court might rule.
Before leaving office Jan. 10, Barbour granted pardons to 198 people and granted other types of reprieves such as sentence suspensions and medical releases to others. Only the pardons required publication of intent.
Ten of the people pardoned were incarcerated at the time Barbour, a Republican, signed the orders. Five governor's mansion trustees were released before Hood, the only Democrat in statewide office, got a lower court judge to issue a temporary restraining order. That restraining order has kept five other pardoned inmates behind bars until the legal challenge is decided.
Many of those others who were pardoned had been out of prison for years and in some cases for decades, but their chance of having their rights restored could be wiped out in the legal battle over the pardons of those convicted of violent crimes. Hood has said only 22 of them published the proper notification.
Barbour has said he's at peace with the pardons because his Christian faith teaches about redemption. He accused Hood of trying to score political points.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Get over it GOpTBaggers, you wanted him, you got him...
His Christian faith allowed him to pardon murderers? Hmmmmm!
Gov. Barbour's pardons have a certain smell about them and they should be reviewed. Gov. Barbour would not be the first governor to sell pardons to the highest bidder or give a buddy a break. Pardons should be given only to those who really deserve them.
Of course they smell. There was another article about the pardons that showed most of them had either high profile or wealthy backers vouching for the people to be pardoned. Basically a Republican, as usual, did a favor for possible future political backers if he should to run for higher office. In other word Barbour can easily be bought and sold to the highest bidder.
Well, if I remember correctly, Bill Clinton, basically a Democrat, raised quite a stink when he pardoned off some of his cronies and money-backers.
You people keep falling for the policitians old standby tactic - them against us - Dems agains Repubs. When are you ever going to stop falling for this smoke and mirrors stunt? It's us against them alright - voters against politicians.
Everything else just distracts everyone from what the crooks in office are doing.
Well bob, it's one thing to pardon crooks (not that I necessarily think it's a good think to pardon crooks) but quite another to pardon murderers.
Who were the murderers that Clinton pardoned?
Re: Clinton. Not murders, but some pretty violent people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_pardon_controversy#FALN_Commutation_of_1999
Whether they like it, or not, this privilege is given to the chief executive, and the courts are not given review. He clearly abused the people's trust, but the pardons will stand.
T-baggers or not, I am not in favor of a bunch of judges overruling an elected governor's decisions on clemency and pardons. Governors have these powers for the purpose of checks and balances and this will set a bad precedent. Historically governors and presidents had this power and I am for them keeping it, whether it was abused this time or not. The media makes this sound a lot worse than it was anyway. There were only 10 "locked up" criminals pardoned. The others had already served their sentences and were only getting their record cleansed. Also, Attorney General Hood only filed a complaint on this to further his own political ambitions.
So you would be all in favor of Governors pardoning all kinds of murders and even serial killers just because they have that right? Hey let's have a Governor pardon the next Ted Bundy just because he can without checks and balances. That is absurd.
The pardons were bought and paid for by influential and wealthy people.
Sorry, Sandy, but Governors already have that right. And I'm not sure who the 'influential and wealthy people' were who 'bought' the release of some convict who has been out of jail for 10 years already.
You need to look up EVERY governor and president who has left office and find out who the people are that were pardoned. You'd probably be amazed.
The constitution of Missouri says:
Reprieves, commutations and pardons--limitations on power.
Section 7. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may deem proper, subject to provisions of law as to the manner of applying for pardons. The power to pardon shall not include the power to parole.
So the argument is about what "subject to provisions of law" means. *I* think it means when the laws of the state say you have to do X first, then you have to do X first. Seems pretty clear to me. The ex-governer screwed up, and granted invalid pardons.
goedjn
You are quoting provisions of the Missouri constitution, this about the pardons in Mississippi. The governor of Mississippi may have made some legal errors too, don't know, that is why they are in court. That and AG Hood's political ambitions.
Sandy, I may not be in favor of certain pardons, but I am in favor of the governor having the right to do the pardons without the oversight of some judge or AG. Especially a politically motivated AG like Hood.
wholeheartedly agree with you terry, i thought it was total crap that these people were pardoned, however, the judges have no right to intervene on that power. I believe that it was wrong, especially the guys working at the mansion. what was done was done. now its time to move on. dont screw with the constitution. it works for us and it works for others, and our constitution is in danger. so I believe we got to stick with the law. someday we as individuals may have a constitutional right pulled out from under us. we cant just have rights for some and not for others.
Who started this pardon bull crap in the first place? Its common to parole inmates before leaving office. I never heard anythind so ridiculous in my life. He is at peace with his mind. Yeah and i bet he is at peace with his bank account too. If any of the convicts commt another crime while out of prison that ex governor baffoon should serve the sentence. In stead of him being an outcast, some idiots hired him as an consultant.