Bush pardons coal mine bomber and 13 others

[proud2BlibKansan]

WASHINGTON Sep 28, 2005 — President Bush granted pardons Wednesday to 14 people, including a member of the mineworkers union who was convicted for his role in bombings at a West Virginia coal mine, a counterfeiter and a bootlegger.



Jesse Ray Harvey of Scarbro, W.Va., was given a 25-month sentence in 1990 after his conviction for using explosives to damage Milburn Colliery. The mine had been the target of a long strike by about 45 members of a United Mine Workers local.



Others granted pardons Wednesday were:



Gene Armand Bridger, Elkhart, Ind., conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, sentenced May 29, 1963, to five years probation.



Cathryn Iline Clasen-Gage, Rockwall, Texas, misprision of a felony, sentenced Aug. 21, 1992, to 18 months in prison and a year of supervised release.



Thomas Kimble Collinsworth, Buckner, Ark., receipt of a stolen motor vehicle that had been transported in interstate commerce, sentenced Aug. 22, 1989, to three years probation and a $5,000 fine.



Morris F. Cranmer Jr., Little Rock, Ark., making materially false statements to a federally insured institution, sentenced March 30, 1988 to nine months in jail.



Rusty Lawrence Elliott, Mount Pleasant, Tenn., making counterfeit money, sentenced April 26, 1991, to a year and a day in prison, two years supervised release and a $500 fine.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1167845&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. Why on earth is he pardoning these people? n/t

[Island Blue]

2. Because he's insane, and he can. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I gave up answering why he does anything

a long time ago.

[shadowknows69]

3. looking at the dates

haven't most of these people probably already served their sentences?

[RC]

4. It 'erases' the legal record.

How much you want to bet they all have done something for this administration and this is their reward.

[unblock]

5. the vast majority of pardons occur long after the sentence has been served

and this is one actually one of the better uses of the pardon, to clean up a record for someone who has actually become an upstanding citizen after they put their dubious past behind them.

naturally, though, 'upstanding citizenship' can often be purchased from an unscrupulous politician....

[LiberalinNC]

6. I was just going to ask, How much $$ did they give * for these pardons?

Enough to actually receive a "pardon".

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. So he is saving them money for expungements

how nice of him :sarcasm: