Extra Fizz: Clemmons' Plea to Huckabee for Clemency

The issue is, in part, a problem with the criminal justice system, sure.

But, more likely? The mental health system is completely inadequate. This guy is looney. He's been a looney for a long time. We've locked him up, increasing his skills as a criminal, but likely done very little to moderate his mental illness.

I know that the liberal blogs are having a field day over this, but I wish they wouldn't. Think about what happens when political partisans try to score points over a high profile crime. Politicians all over the country, who are already afraid of the "soft on crime" label, are scared that they will take personal blame if they offer clemency, and the convict proceeds to commit a serious crime, and will come to view the hardline approach as the politically safe approach, even when it is not the right approach. I've worked to reform the Three Strikes law in Washington, and I see the cheap shots as being extremely damaging to my efforts.

This particular post seems to be informational, not intended to promote a particular agenda, and so the above criticism is not directed toward Publicola in particular.

The hipster logic boils down to a quasi-syllogism:

A. Black people are cool
B. Black people hate cops
C. Hating cops is cool

I realize that A and B are bogus generalizations, but they're right there in the hipster handbook of indispensable axioms.

Let's all remember that during our recent city council and mayoral campaign's Publicola regularly derided anyone who supported more police and stronger enforcement of laws here in Seattle. Erica Barnett even said in her campaign analysis that council candidate Jessie Israel lost support when she went over to "the law and order dark side". Publicola like it's Stranger sibling has been a welcome venue for the cop haters in our city. Your disdain for law and order is irresponsible and runs absolutely counter to the necessary framework for a civil society.

Sounds like a big political liability for Huckabee, and you can tell from his press release he knows that.

How could we have kept this guy in jail? We NEED our jails to hold our pot smokers and bad check writers!

For f**ks sake, there should not be a SINGLE person in jail unless they need to be physically separated from society for safety (like this guy). Martha Stewart does not need to take up a jail cell. Non violent drug offenders, and 'fiscal' crimes should be dealt with by fines and other mechanisms. The ACTUAL violent dangerous people should be the sole occupants of actual prisons.

As for #2, Huckabee isn't running for anything? Better tell the GOP, he's one of the top 3 leading contenders for the 2012 Presidential race.

How could anyone believe this mental defective could compose even a single one of those sentences? Why don't they just make hand puppets of the defendants and have their lawyers make a puppet plea in front of a puppet judge? It would be about as truthful a process.

@2, If memory serves the law requires that people have the option of the bail except for first degree murder. Judges have discretion in the amount but it has to be reasonable given their likelihood to return for trial.

As for how 150k becomes 15k, well you can blame the bail bond system for that.

please focus on the judge here in Washington state who let this felon out on bail on eeeezeee terms....we can dis elect this judge. About Huckabee, well, he's not going to run for anything and he would not get our votes anyway.

what is the name of this judge? what evidence did he have before letting the guy out? what is our bail system in which $150K really only means $15K case, that's nothing!?

So...he appealed to the brotherhood of Christianity!