It has always been tradition in this country that the Governor and President be granted the power of pardon.  Those pardons are usually handed down as the elected official leaves office and are often granted to political friends, an entertainer or two (remember New York Governor David Patterson‘s pardon of Slick Rick or the President Bush’s surprising release of John Forte)  but very rarely does any have the balls to pardon a violent criminal.  So when outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned four men convicted of murder, the news caused a whirlwind…or did it.

Politicians are often the LEAST noteworthy during their lame duck home stretch, often staying out of controversy.   So the pardons of  David Gatlin, Joseph Ozment, Charles Hooker and Anthony McCray almost slipped through the cracks and was unreported.  The  four men who were serving life sentences and worked as trusties at the governor’s mansion, were granted full pardons and released at 1 p.m. Sunday unbeknown to the media that is until the victim’s families caught wind of it and immediately called WAPT and WLBT to express their outrage at Barbour’s decision.

Gatlin was convicted of murder, aggravated assault and burglary Ozment: murder, conspiracy and armed robbery and were both serving time in a maximum security facility.   Hooker was convicted in a 1991 murder, while McCray was convicted in a 2001 murder. Nathan Kern, who was serving a life sentence for burglary was also recently pardoned.

This Pardon power goes back to the Framers of the United States and is protected by Article II Section 2 of the Constitution so it goes back a long time.  On the state level the governors of most of the 50 states have the power to grant pardons. In the others an appointed agency or board is appointed to do so.  For the most part these pardons have been used to grant clemency to inmates to Death Row, by governors against the death penalty commuting their sentences to life instead.  But is this TOO much power.  Especially conservative governor this act is rather surprising.  At a time when most conservatives accuse the President of being a socialist with too much power its interesting that a Republican would abuse his own.  Or is it?  SOUND OFF:  Should elected officials STILL be granted the power to pardon criminals