Huckabee clemency for Clemmons one of many discretionary decisions

Sarah Fields-Thomas

I disagree with the media’s attack on former presidential hopeful, Gov. Mike Huckabee. Also, had I been in charge of Maurice Clemmons’ request for clemency, it would have been denied.

Clemmons “was a person of interest” for the shooting in a coffee shop in Washington State that left four police officers dead.

This column is in no way an attempt to devalue the lives of police officers or to downplay the dangers they face as they work to restore and maintain order.

In a recent interview, Huckabee said he valued soldiers and police because they are the “only people that stand between our freedom and total anarchy.” Police officers, judges and prosecutors practice what is known in the criminal justice system as discretion.

This is the means by which actors in the criminal justice system use their own judgment, interests and experience instead of formal rules to influence the punishment phase of law.

Discretion allows police officers to decide who they issue a traffic citation, judges to decide who gets the maximum sentence versus the minimum, and prosecutors to decide which cases are taken to trial or which defendants are offered plea agreements.

Huckabee commuted Maurice Clemmons’ sentence nine years ago citing Clemmons’ young age (18 at the time of conviction) as a deciding factor. Reports say Clemmons intentionally shot and killed the officers while they sat at a table filling out police reports in full uniform.

The gunman did not attempt to shoot any other patrons or any of the employees at the shop. Today, Clemmons is dead—shot to death by an officer investigating an incident involving a stolen vehicle.

This is a huge tragedy with ramifications reaching far beyond the borders of Washington State.

It is easy, perhaps even natural, to turn Huckabee into a sacrificial lamb. However, the realization remains that Huckabee’s decision to grant Clemmons commutation is not the mistake that cost the lives of four police officers.

Instead, Huckabee’s decision rests on the aforementioned privilege of discretion and cannot be separated from the day-to-day operations of our legal system.

Although Huckabee is not a traditional agent of law enforcement, his ability to grant clemency is well within the boundaries of his power.

No one could have foreseen this tragic disregard for human life. Huckabee’s “mistake” is not the only place where the criminal justice system failed society, nor will it be the last. In fact, several people in the criminal justice system made decisions concerning Clemmons that did not require him to serve a life sentence.

After Huckabee granted him clemency, he became eligible for parole. The parole board granted his release once they determined he met the conditions. He violated his parole, was arrested and processed to serve his full term.

Later, prosecutors decided to dismiss the charges that would have kept Clemmons in prison, according to a CBS News report. Again, these points of contact all exercised discretionary.

Police officers made contact with Jeffrey Dahmer several times prior to his arrest but were unable to prevent him from adding to his body count. Dahmer was convicted for murdering, dismembering and cannibalizing the bodies of 17 men.

Jeffrey A. Helnes was convicted of drunken driving five times. He spent total of 14 months in jail for all five counts. He consumed 18 beers one evening shortly after his release, climbed into his van, ran a red light and killed 4-year-old Jon Port.

These cases and the decisions that followed are no different than the one made by Huckabee.

Huckabee is a politician who exercised the power the people gave him. If we are going to burn him at the stake, we should also throw the parole board and the prosecutor onto the fire.

In a system established, managed and tested by man, we cannot and should not expect perfection.

Sure, Clemmons had a history of committing extremely violent acts. His past includes raping a 13-year-old girl, assaulting his own mother and repeatedly threatening police officers.

During his fourth trial, the judge ordered him shackled to his chair, establishing Clemmons as a clear threat to society.

The lapse in judgment on behalf of the Arkansas parole board, parole officers, prosecutors and Huckabee is demonstrative of the frequent dysfunction within our criminal justice system.

However, this breakdown occurred on multiple levels—levels that run much deeper than those for which we can hold Gov. Huckabee responsible.