Is Maurice Clemmons Mike Huckabee's Willie Horton?

According to what I was reading on aol Bill O thinks that it isn't Huckabee's fault so I guess we have to go with Bill huh? LMAO

It would be ridiculous to hold Huckabee responsible. Why not hold this guy's father and mother responsible? Or his grandparents? What about white folks in general, since he's black, for brining his ancestors here? lol Makes no sense. The guy got in some serious, serious sht when he was only 16, and at the urging of some, including the parole board, Huckabee did what he did. "Commuted" doesn't mean Huckabee let him go. It means he allowed him to reach parole. So we're blaming the parole board, too? How about recently -- the judges that gave him low-ball bond for baby rape even given his incredible history of 8 or so felonies? Seems to me like this could have been avoided WITHOUT going back in the time machine. The here and now counts for something No, no. I got it. Let's blame evolution for humans even coming to pass. That's it! This post has to do with Huckabee being a Republican. Have some pennies.

I reviewed the case before this thread although that article mentions things that supposedly happened in court which were not part of his criminal record, ie he was never charged or prosecuted for attempting to grab a bailiff's pistol or attacking anyone in court. His crimes were theft and burglary at the age of 17 and he was sentenced for up to 95 years. Now I'm all about harsh sentences, but that's effectively a life sentence for a 17 year old. I only approve of that kind of sentencing when we're dealing with rape, murder, or attempted murder. Huckabee has done several interviews discussing this and stated that when the commutation was requested, the prosecuting attorney did NOT show up to argue against it and the judge who presided over the case recommended that his sentence be commuted. Beyond that it was the prosecutor's failure to properly file charges after a parole violation that lead to this psycho being on the streets again. I mean, how incompetent was this prosecutor that he didn't get an arrest warrant before arresting this guy for armed robbery? It took him three years which is beyond the statute of limitations in Arkansas. In the more recent events, you have to ask: Why in the he1l was this disgusting monster on the streets on bail after raping a freaking 12 year old in addition to all his other crimes? It's easy to play Monday morning quarterback on what Huckabee did 10 years ago, but we're living in the now and right now he should be in jail awaiting trial for other crimes and this one should have never happened.

The two incidents cannot be even remotely compaired on a practicle level. Willie horton was given a furlough, litteraly permission to leave prison for weekends, even though the man was a murderer, convicted as an adult. The Maurice Clemmons case was that of a 16 year old kid, who was given what essentialy amounted to a life sentence, for a few robberies. Granted, still a serious crime, even for a young fella. What Huckabe did was commute his sentence that would alter his sentence to include parole, which he was granted a number of years later. I watched Governor Huckabe in an interview. You could see the agony in his face as he was owning up to his decision, something I greatly admire him for doing. He offered no excuses, didn't try to tap dance out of anything. He just said, I comuted his sentence and at the time it seemed the apropriate thing to do after cafefull consideration. He stated that he greatly regretted his decision. This will however haunt Hachabe, as anoter poster pointed out. Republicans will use it in the primnaries and if he should get the republican nomination, democrats will use it in the general elections. If the governor runs as an independant, both parties will use it in a double attack. I think ultimately the one reponsable is Maurice Clemmons. But it would have been prudent for the judges in the most recent case to set a more apropriate bail, one he could no tpossibly have gahterred up the money for, given the long record this guy had by this time.

The short answer is "yes, it will hurt him". It will hurt him in the way that the press and the opposition will attempt to capitalize on it in negative campaigning. Clemmons is "Willie Horton" in that respect only. The cases couldn't be more dissimilar. Horton committed his crimes while out on a furlough. Clemmons had his sentence commuted by Huckabee a decade ago. He wasn't on the streets because of Huckabee either. He was in custody on recent rape charges and the decision to release him was made by a judge. Given the guy's history, the decision to let him out on bail was a very poor one. I agree with a point in the article that Huckabee seems to be a very compassionate man. Funny, I thought liberals liked compassion. However, I am sure they would use this compassion against him. It appears that Clemmons had some mental problems and that for years his family had done their best to cover for him. It's a tragic case with a terrible ending. Yes, it's a liability for Huckabee, but his involvement will be blown out of proportion and the opposition will try to make him the responsible party when it doesn't seem that's entirely true.

Hi, Pat! It would certainly seem this is the case. Many Americans live in fear at all times, and incidents lie this make them want to keep every inmate locked up forever. They will inevitably blame the person responsible for allowing them to be released!