Mike Huckabee was on Hannity yesterday defending his decision to commute cop killer Maurice Clemmons’ sentence while Huckabee was governor of Arkansas. I think the mainstream media has calmed down and now realizes that Huckabee did not set Clemmons free, but commuted his sentence to 47 years, making him eligible for parole —- which he was eventually granted. Clemmons would eventually violate his parole repeatedly, but judges —for some reason —- set bail that was way too low, allowing him to be released.
Clemmons’ case reminded me of Kwame Cannon, who received a life sentence as a teenager after pleading guilty to several burglaries here in Greensboro. Cannon’s sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Jim Hunt to time served and he was released on parole. Both the Pulpit Forum, led by Rev. Nelson Johnson, and the local media put considerable pressure on Hunt to commute Cannon’s sentence, arguing that it was disproportionate to his crimes. Advocates cited institutional racism and Cannon’s experience as a 10-year-old witnessing the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootout as reasons why he should receive a lighter sentence.
And seven years after the Massacre and around the same time as Hunt’s case, the son a Black CWP member named Kwame Cannon, who witnessed the massacre as a 10 year old participant with his mom, was sentenced to life in prison at age sixteen. The charges? Multiple petty theft and burglary involving a grand total of less than $500. No weapon was involved nor were any of the victims assaulted or otherwise harmed. Most were not even home at the time of the crime because Cannon entered homes through unlocked doors and windows, grabbed the first thing he saw of value and bolted.
In what was clearly bias in the justice system, he received poor advice from his private attorney (for $2500, more than what he took) and agreed to a plea agreement without his mother’s consent and was sentenced without his mother being present. How does a judge sentence a 16 year old to life in prison for a non-violent crime? Racism, racism, racism! Kwame spent 13 years in prison before he was release. As a result of that case, now anyone convicted of a similar crime can be sentence to no more than 7 years.
The above details are key to understanding the racial dynamic in Southern justice.
I realize this is not an apples-to apples comparison. To my knowledge coorect me if I’m wrong —-Kwame Cannon has stayed out of trouble since his release from prison. I also realize that conservative blogs would be howling if a liberal governor had commuted a sentence that resulted in the murder of four police officers. I’m not excusing Huckabee, but I’m just pointing out there is considerable pressure on public officials from a wide variety of activist groups to commute sentences and release prisoners. Sometimes —in the case of Daryl Hunt — it’s the right thing to do. Other times —in the case of Clemmons —it has tragic consequences.
