Pence Refuses to Pardon Completely Innocent (Released) Black Man

[bigtree]

Republican VP nominee Mike Pence just issued the most cowardly decision in his term as Indiana’s Governor, which also included his spineless signature of the RFRA Law aimed at legalizing anti-gay discrimination. Now the Republican is “defying reason” and refusing to pardon a completely innocent African-American man Keith Cooper, who was exonerated by the parole board for being innocent of the crime that put him behind bars for a decade.

Keith Cooper is still facing a lifetime of housing and job discrimination as a convicted felon, even though he’s a free man today, fully innocent in the eyes of the parole board, and the many letters to the editor decrying Pence’s cowardly actions. One of the state’s most prominent newspapers just urged the Republican governor to act immediately to pardon Cooper for the 1996 crime that he did not commit. Buzzfeed reports:

After waiting for more than two years for Governor Mike Pence to act on the board’s decision, Cooper has learned that the GOP vice presidential candidate won’t — unless Cooper can prove to the governor’s administration that all other judicial remedies have been exhausted.

After serving 10 years of a 40 year prison sentence for an Indiana armed robbery and attempted murder, Keith Cooper was freed when eyewitnesses recanted their testimony against him, new DNA evidence showed he wasn’t at the scene of the crime, and a jailhouse informant admitted that he lied to investigators. Five years later, Cooper filed a pardon petition that, if it were granted, would make him the first person in the state’s history granted clemency based on a finding of innocence. When his request was presented to the parole board, they found unanimously that he should be pardoned and have the two serious felony charges wiped from his record.

It all sounds so reasonable, waiting for all judicial remedies to be exhausted, except that that has already happened! But the Republican Governor who balances the Trump ticket’s racial hatred and religious discrimination with misogyny and anti-LGBT sentiment, probably just wouldn’t like the optics of being just and clearing the name of an African-American male, wrongly convicted of a crime. In fact, Cooper’s lawyer has already expressed that the victim of injustice is in fact out of court appeals already...

http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/10/02/heartless-christian-mike-pence-refuses-pardon-wrongfully-convicted-black-man/

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. Deplorable.

[cwydro]

2. I find Pence maybe even more frightening than the Shitgibbon.

We're in a bad place here.

[Achilleaze]

9. The Pence of Darkness

+ 1,000

[dhol82]

3. Yup - grandfatherly Nazi.

Such a poor excuse for someone with a soul.

[metroins]

4. Why include his race?

If the person is innocent, that's all that should matter.

He should be pardoned from what I read, but including his race as many times as the article did doesn't make sense.

[bigtree]

5. I'm black

...and I appreciated that they highlighted his race.

There is an historic imbalance of justice in America that shouldn't be swept under the rug.

Too bad if that offends your sensibilities.

[metroins]

8. Too bad if you're offended

Because the way the article is written takes away from the merits and focuses on his race...which I think is disgusting.

If the person is proven innocent, the merits are what matters.

Focusing on an unrelated factor of race only weakens an argument and allows for deflection, like I just did. It is stupid when there's no basis of racism, especially when this is the first case of its kind.

[bigtree]

11. too bad if I'm offended?

...doesn't sound like you share my life experience.

You're fraudulently wrong on highlighting race where criminal justice is concerned. From my perspective, it hasn't been highlighted enough. I don't need to check the statistics in that state to know that black men have wildly disproportional arrest and conviction rates. That includes those wrongfully convicted.

That's not something that should be kept silent. Your suggestion that it shouldn't be mentioned is 'disgusting' to me.

Glad we don't have to kowtow to your way of thinking. The 'argument' for this man isn't harmed one bit by mentioning his race in this account or any other. Just in your sensitive mind.

[metroins]

12. You focus on what you want

I think focusing on race is disgusting in a case that it is not relevant.

[bigtree]

14. you're goddamn right I will

...and if you don't believe there's room (or even cause) to highlight race on this progressive board, where issues of criminal justice is concerned, perhaps you don't belong in this discussion.

Pushing over and over to convince a 56 year-old black man that race shouldn't be mentioned is just despicable. You should be ashamed.

[metroins]

15. You seem to get very personal with your attacks

When I haven't mentioned you at all.

I think focusing on race is disgusting, detracting and even more so, insulting, in cases where it's not a factor. I also think it's a very very very poor way to inform the public on an issue.

Such a: I was driving a red car, stopped at a red light and I was rear ended by a truck. My insurance adjuster, agent and police all say I did nothing wrong, but my insurance carrier won't change it to a not at fault accident. I think red cars are unfairly discriminated by other vehicles and I'd like to see it changed, even though my insurance carrier has never overturned an at fault to a not at fault in history.

I hate to see injustice, but the fact is, the color doesn't matter, the governor is a dick and the right thing to do is to pardon the person, no matter what race, sex or preference they have.

Stop attacking me for my thoughts that focusing on color is disgusting when the real injustice is an innocent man's life is being screwed with because the governor is a dick.

I think the presentation is poor.

[ismnotwasm]

16. You might want to read up a bit

Start here

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/race-death-row-inmates-executed-1976#defend

[metroins]

17. Not this case

There has never been an innocent man pardoned. That is what the article is about.

Not race, not death penalty, the fact that the governor hadn't pardoned him yet.

He should.

The discussion is based on an innocent man who should be able to get his life back together. There is no evidence the pardon is being withheld because of his race that I can find.

You can quote racial injustices and I'll agree with you all day long. It's just irrelevant in this matter.

[bigtree]

18. you jumped on this thread, not to talk about the merits of this case

...but to complain that the article mentioned he was black.

That fact is important to me, and to others actually concerned with the effects and consequences of criminal justice toward black Americans.

Stop attacking you? You're now the victim here? You obviously don't have any personal stake in recognizing this man's race. It's not only glaringly obvious from your initial comments, but sadly obvious from the way you've reverted to defending yourself.

Like I said, you don't belong in this discussion, and it's amazing to me that, in a progressive forum which is supposed to defend and protect discussion of progressive issues, that you'd be arguing with a black man that race shouldn't matter in a discussion about criminal justice. You're out-of -touch and offensive. You deserve more than this mostly polite rebuke.

FFS, this is the argument I have with conservatives I know. They're positively obsessed, as you seem, to be with tamping down issues which affect people of color; advocating color-blindness to match their ignorance on race. You're wrong and there doesn't seem to be any bottom to your own ignorance on this issue. Consider yourself invisible to me on this forum. I don't have room in my life right now to mollycoddle you.

[metroins]

19. I do belong.

Inconvenient to you, there's many facets to the Democratic party and I'm a very moderate one.

I think the discussion should be focused on the merits of the case, you think it should be focused on his race. I think you're regressive, you think I'm regressive.

We have differing opinions on HOW we get there but we both believe he should be pardoned.

I think your message on race is disgusting and regressive, you likely think mine is. We're both in agreement on the end result.

[guillaumeb]

6. They had already spent all that money on a trial.

No sense wasting the money.

[elleng]

7. 'Cooper filed a pardon petition that, if it were granted,

would make him the first person in the state’s history granted clemency based on a finding of innocence.'

Clearly Pence won't do such an honorable thing.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Pence is a disgraceful excuse for a man. Shame on him.

Greatest Page for this important and revealing story.

[mwooldri]

13. Here's my tuppence worth... Gov. Pence isn't worth this:

A post-decimalisation 2p coin. My post is more valuable.