Alabama: Pardon Revisited

Lance Griffin of the Dothan Eagle has written a great little article on former Alabama Attorney General Richmond Flowers (D) who also ran for governor in 1966. Flowers was convicted on federal charges of extorting payments from life insurance companies in return for being allowed to do business in the state in 1969. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined $10,000. But Flowers claimed the charges were "politically motivated" and served less than two years before being paroled in 1974. Griffin reports that Flowers was pardoned by Jimmy Carter in 1978. This can be commonly seen in obituaries and, as a result, on various web pages. But PardonPower has a copy of the clemency warrant. It is clearly signed in June of 1980, the last year of Carter's term. According to Griffin, Flowers’ application for pardon listed as references: Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Sen. Ted Kennedy and then-Attorney General of Minnesota Walter Mondale, Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and others. See full story here.

Watch List: Siegelman Speaks!

The Huffington Post is featuring an interview with former Alabama governor Don Siegelman, a member of our Pardon Watch List. See interview here.

Alabama: Pardon, Parole, Whatever.

In July of 2006, John Faulk was drinking and driving a speedboat in a restricted area and, as a consequence, hurt eight people and killed one Michael Haslam (who was sitting on a pontoon boat). Faulk's unsuccessful defense was that he consumed a large amount of alcohol after the accident, while waiting for the police to arrive on the scene. On Monday, a pastor, college pals, friends and family requested leniency from Judge Ben Fuller. Faulk's mother put is this way: "Please give him a pardon or parole or whatever. We don't want him to go to prison or jail." Fuller responded with a 30-month sentence split so that Faulk will serve 18 months in jail for the most serious charge and a year concurrently for misdemeanor assault charges. The victim's wife says the sentence is too light and remains annoyed that Faulk has never even apologized or expressed remorse. See full story here.

The President: Another Perspective on Siegelman

Over at the American Spectator, Mark G. Michaelsen suggests that, if a Democrat is elected President of the United States in 2008, former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman "might be pardoned." Michaelson even thinks there "might even be pressure" on a Democrats President to appoint Siegelman "as a federal judge or a U.S. Attorney." The article suggests "journalists and Democrats" have "concocted an 'inside job' theory" or "conspiratorial" view about Siegelman's conviction which includes everything "liberals" hate (Bush, Rove, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Abramoff, etc.). Michaelson finds it odd, however, that "there are never calls to spring corporate executive Richard Scrushy, who is thought to have bilked investors." See Spectator article here. PardonPower has addressed this case before in the following posts: 1/11 Presidential Pardon "Watch List". 3/4 The President: Siegelman and Scrushy?, 3/11 The President: 60 Minutes Report

The President: 60 Minutes Report

PardonPower placed former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D) on the Presidential Pardon "Watch List" long ago and has updated the effort by his college-aged daughter to obtain a presidential pardon on his behalf (see The President: Siegelman and Scrushy?). Now, PardonPower readers can view a report on Siegelman's case broadcast last month on the ever-intriguing television program 60 Minutes. The general theme of the segment is "politics, politics, politics, Karl Rove, and politics." See complete video here (after a brief annoying commercial). There is a complete transcript of the segment as well.

The President: Siegelman and Scrushy?

The Daily 49er has an interesting article regarding two individuals on our Pardon Watch List. Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama, was found guilty in 2006 on seven counts of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud. Richard M. Scrushy, a former CEO of the Birmingham, Ala.-based HealthSouth Corporation, paid off $500,000 in debts that Siegelman had accrued from his 1999 initiative to implement a state lottery and, in exchange, received a seat on a state hospital licensing board. Siegelman has almost seven years left to serve of his 88-month sentence. Scrushy is serving 82 months.

But Siegelman's daughter, a 23-year-old Cal State Long Beach communications graduate, is making an extraordinary effort on her father's behalf. Last week, she passed out more than 2,000 copies of a flier while standing on street corners. It asked people to watch the Feb. 26 episode of 60 Minutes, which detailed her father's trial, sentencing, and the controversy surrounding it. Some believe the convictions were part of a greater conspiracy against the Democratic Party lead by Karl Rove. Thus, the article notes Ms. Siegelman is "utilizing media resources" to "create awareness" about her father's case and conviction and doing "anything to educate people." A former president of a grassroots activist group says the case is a good example of the "pure politicalization" within the Justice Department and that political pressure was necessary to force an appeal or a presidential pardon. See the article here