At least we can safely assume this POS plans on never running for office again. Pardoning a child rapist is way beyond the proverbial dead girl/live boy.
On a side note, just once I'd like to see a governor have the balls to make these types of insane, self-serving, unbelievably corrupt pardons before an election. Pinnacle of cowardice.
We are such an unforgiving and vindictive nation these days that we would begrudge a Governor from making a LEGITIMATE pardon before the election.
That someone is GUILTY doesn't mean that they shouldn't be PARDONED. That includes people who are convicted, but politically affiliated or politically connected. The use of the pardon power should be exercised far more frequently than it is currently exercised. That Bevin used it questionably does not alter that belief, IMO. America is harmed more by unnecessarily Draconian sentencing and the unnecessary lifelong stigmatization of a criminal record than it is by a few ill-advised pardons by a HP who even Mitch McConnell doesn't like.
Agreed.
But none of anything you said applies to the Bevin pardons we're discussing here. I'm finding it hard to understand how pardoning a monster whose family raised money for your reelection campaign is an example of a "legitimate" pardon.
The pardon power is legitimate if it is given by the Governor in Kentucky. Period. That it involved someone's donor or BFF is irrelelvant. That these people had "connections" to the Governor is irrelevant to the legitimacy of the pardon. If there is bribery, or selling of pardons, that is a crime, but it should NEVER undo the Pardon granted. (If the pardoned person gets out of jail and was the one offering the bribe, let them go back to jail on a new offense.)
The ranting and railing against Bevin by Democrats is my issue. Democrats, perhaps unwittingly, are undermining the ability of the Governor in Kentucky to issue pardons to make wrongs right. We need MORE pardons, not fewer, in general. We're tough enough on crime. But the "tough on crime" crowd is likely to seize on Democrats' rants against Bevin to "reform" the pardon process to where it becomes easier to reject a pardon and/or harder to grant one.
Pardoning seems like an archaic semi-monarchical process. If sentences are unfair (which often they are tbh) the justice system should be reformed so there is fairer sentencing. I think overall the criminal justice system should be focused more on rehabilitation. However arbitrary pardons distort the course of justice and Bevin's decision is the one that encourages the BS 'tough on crime' people. And Democrats are right to criticize him, what kind of democracy would exist if people can't criticize the bad decisions of their leaders?
