Wednesday, December 07, 2016
My favorite graph ever
Today's New York Times has a great editorial on clemency (which links to both the op-ed I wrote in April and the group letter I organized with a few others two weeks ago). It is both concise and right on point.
For years, I have fought an uphill battle to have someone, anyone, recognize the reality of President Ford's 1974-75 clemency project that led to clemency grants for over 13,000 Americans who had deserted the armed forces or evaded the draft in the Vietnam era. Every time I see the White House claiming that they have "granted more clemency than the last 11 presidents combined" I cry out to no one in particular that it just is not true.
The reason it bothers me so much is because the Ford example is the best precedent for what President Obama should have done several years ago-- taken clemency out of the DOJ and set up an independent commission.
Finally, P.S. Ruckman over at the Pardon Power blog has created an accurate graph:
For years, I have fought an uphill battle to have someone, anyone, recognize the reality of President Ford's 1974-75 clemency project that led to clemency grants for over 13,000 Americans who had deserted the armed forces or evaded the draft in the Vietnam era. Every time I see the White House claiming that they have "granted more clemency than the last 11 presidents combined" I cry out to no one in particular that it just is not true.
The reason it bothers me so much is because the Ford example is the best precedent for what President Obama should have done several years ago-- taken clemency out of the DOJ and set up an independent commission.
Finally, P.S. Ruckman over at the Pardon Power blog has created an accurate graph:
