Mike Huckabee Watch: Arkansas Clemencies – Is Huckabee Too Soft on Crime?

U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee greets an Iowan during a campaign stop in Newton, Iowa, December 4, 2007.

With former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee rising in the Presidential polls more scrutiny of his political record is given.

Is Mike Huckabee too SOFT on crime and criminals?

If you’re wondering how Gov. Huckabee’s hundreds of clemencies compare with neighboring states, get ready for a shocker.

Huckabee leads the pack.

He has issued more commutations and pardons than all of the six neighboring states combined.

Then, there is the case of Wayne DuMond.

More on Huckabee’s direct role in the parole of Wayne Dumond is here and a victim of the rapist Dumond has come forward to press the case against Huckabee.

The ABC Good Morning America video is here.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=0OgW0LTKlcs[/youtube]

As Flap writes, the negative television campaign ads are being prepared to be used against Huckabee?

The only question is: What state will they be used first and by whom?

Mike Huckabee – too soft on crime and criminals?

You bet.

Update:

Now, a former aide to Governor Huckabee is now contradicting his defense he gave today to the press:

Directly contradicting Mike Huckabee’s claims, his former senior aide tells the Huffington Post that, as governor of Arkansas, Huckabee indeed told the state’s parole board that he supported the release of a convicted rapist.

The senior aide, Olan W. “Butch” Reeves, personally attended a controversial parole board meeting with Huckabee in Oct. 1996.

“The clear impression that I came away with from the meeting was that he favored Dumond’s release,” Reeves said, referring to convicted rapist Wayne Dumond. “And I can understand why board members would believe that to be the case.”

This stands in stark contrast to Huckabee’s assertion, repeated at a press conference today that he “did not ask [the board] to do anything.” When asked directly about trying to influence the board, Huckabee responded: “No. I did not. Let me categorically say that I did not.”

Mark Halperin clarifies the HuffPo piece vis a vis the issue of parole vs. clemency (H/T race42008.com).

The Governor’s approach to the DuMond case has been consistent. As he expressed in the letter, he did believe that DuMond should be released from prison. However, he denied clemency/pardon FOUR TIMES. Even after the Board granted parole with the out-of-state stipulation, Governor Huckabee denied two subsequent clemency requests. DuMond could not find a state which would take him, so he remained in prison for TWO MORE YEARS. It was during this time that the Governor continued to deny him clemency.

If the Governor was actively seeking to release DuMond, he could have easily done so by granting him clemency. He did not do so.

However, Mike Huckabee may be telling the truth today about what transpired at the Parole Board meeting but this does NOT mitigate the “soft on crime” record he has with regard to clemencies in Arkansas.

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