Mike Huckabee Granted Clemency to Maurice Clemmons

(AP Photo)

Nine years ago, former Arkansas governor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee commuted the prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the man being sought by police in connection with the weekend murder of four police officers in Washington.

Huckabee's decision to commute Clemmons' sentence came "over the protests of prosecutors," according to the Seattle Times, which quotes an Arkansas prosecutor saying, "This is the day I've been dreading for a long time."

Huckabee distanced himself from Clemmons in a statement last night, writing that if Clemmons is found responsible for the murders, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State." Here's more from the statement:

He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990. This commutation made him parole eligible and he was then was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state.

4620389Clemmons has a long criminal history that reportedly includes at least 13 felony convictions, and most recently had been in jail on charges of child rape. According to the Times, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1990 for burglary and theft, when he was 18 years old; he had already been serving a 48 year prison sentence at the time, and faced another possible 95 years behind bars on separate charges. Huckabee reportedly commuted that sentence, pointing to the fact that Clemmons was just a teenager.

This is not the first time Huckabee, who is widely believed to be considering another presidential run, has faced questions tied to his intervention on behalf of a prisoner.

In 1985, a man named Wayne DuMond was convicted of the rape of a 17-year-old girl with a connection to then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. DuMond's sentence was set at life in prison, plus 20 years. In 1992, Clinton's successor in the Arkansas governor's mansion, Jim Guy Tucker, reduced that sentence to 39 years, making DuMond eligible for parole.

When Huckabee became governor in 1996, he expressed doubts about DuMond's guilt and said he was considering commuting his sentence to time served. After the victim and her supporters protested, Huckabee decided against commutation.

But in 1997, according to the Kansas City Star, Huckabee wrote a letter to DuMond saying "my desire is that you be released from prison." Less than a year later, DuMond was granted parole. He was later arrested for sexually assaulting and murder and was the leading suspect in a second rape and murder.

Huckabee's office denied that the governor played a role in the parole board's decision, but there was evidence to contradict that claim.

In 2007, Huckabee told CNN, "For people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it, rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret that politics is reduced to that."

Read more about the DuMond case here>.

Huckabee appeared on "Fox News Sunday" yesterday. He said he has become "less likely" to run for president in 2012 because he finds his current job hosting a show on Fox News to be "really wonderful." He also suggested he could again have a hard time attracting support from the Republican establishment.

Huckabee made the comments before news broke of his connection to Clemmons.

WATCH: Karie Couric's recent interview with Mike Huckabee

A USA Today/Gallup poll released earlier this month found that 71 percent of Republicans would "seriously consider" voting for Huckabee in 2012. By contrast, 65 percent said they would seriously consider voting for Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin, and 60 percent said they would seriously consider voting for Newt Gingrich.

[amurguz]

Say "goodnight," Mike.

[abbelee]

The term ?repeat offender? did not originate with Mike Huckabee and the killing of these four police officers. Where are the articles with photos and names of parole board members who constantly release dangerous criminals back into society to kill again? Are the lives of their victims worth any less than the lives of the four police officers? Why aren?t their parole boards held accountable and asked to publicly defend their decisions? I would hope they too are haunted by their decisions, but it doesn?t appear likely, nor that anyone in the media cares since they aren't famous.

[baukunin]

Huckabee actually generally acted rationally in giving commutations and pardons. Where he erred was relying on religious bases for making those judgments. A lot of the religious "conversions" dissappear the day the prisoners are let loose.

Huckabee didn't pardon or commute DuMond's sentence. He pressured the parole board to let him go.

Dukakis didn't pardon or commute Willie Horton. Horton was conditionally furloughed under a program started by his Republican predecessor.

Lastly, the religious base of the Republican party is fractured, rather than monolithic. Huckabee was acceptable to most fundamentalists, but Romney, as a Mormon was not, nor was Brownback, as a Opus Dei cultist Catholic. They were attacking each other on the basis of specific religious beliefs. Sarah spooked many non-charismatics. Her handlers at least kept her from speaking in tongues on national television and talking about how she saw pictures that proved men walked with dinosaurs.

[2012EOD]

Lets look at some facts:

Huckabee offered Clemmons parole in 2000

Clemmons was among 1,033 people who were pardoned or had their sentences reduced during Huckabee's 10 1/2 years as governor.

Clemmons didn't stay out long. He was convicted of robbery in Ouachita County in 2001, but was released again in 2004 by the parole board. Remember, Huckabee was not the Gov. then.

He was also recently charged in Washington state with assaulting a police officer, and second-degree rape of a child.

So why was this guy out of jail?

[amurguz]

Our constitutional right to "bail."

[troutfishyman]

2012EOD

As you may notice, this article is about HUCKABEE. So it is entirely appropriate to comment on HUCKABEE, especially since he pardoned many others that may well commit crimes like this! And it would be naive to think this will not affect his political career. Get your head out of your keyster.

[2012EOD]

It maybe about Huckabee, so why bring up Sarah Palin?

I just ask for a little respect for the fallen Police Officers, but apparently you cannot find that in your heart.

[ubrew12]

OK, so Clements was delusional and a 13 time loser. The real question is: what was he doing with a gun?

(as near as I can tell, Huckabee acted properly in releasing him)

This is 100% the fault of America's love-affair with guns, and willingness to put irresponsibly-owned guns in every lunatics hands.

[2012EOD]

Well lets have a look see.

"Sarah Palin is probably doing CARTWHEELS over this"

"poor huckaberry .... looks like the GOP leadership pool continues to shrink "

you tell me.

[formrusmcsgt]

Personally, I considered Huckabee a more serious contender than Palin.

He ran the traps in '08...she rode McCain's coat tails. Big difference.

It's hard to tell how much this will hurt Huckabee two years from now, but this Independent thinks that anything that pushes Sarah the clown to front-runner status is good news.

[troutfishyman]

poor huckaberry .... looks like the GOP leadership pool continues to shrink

[2012EOD]

A note to all of you Democrats that seem to be celebrating this:

THERE ARE FOUR DEAD POLICE OFFICERS, HAVE SOME CLASS.

[formrusmcsgt]

I see no one "celebrating" the deaths of these officers, as you put it, but rather, comments on the poor judgement shown by Huckabee.

You appear to be incapable of distinguishing between the two....

[th9876]

I'm not celebrating the deaths of the officers - God bless their souls. Huckabee is just in a long line of people soft on crime in this country, he is not the only one. Violent criminals should NEVER be released back into society for any reason. Unfortunately, in this country criminals are treated better than victims.

[formrusmcsgt]

Huckabee's decision to commute Clemmons' sentence came "over the protests of prosecutors...
---
Who obviously had better judgement than Huckabee, as it turns out....