Written by Seth Blomely, 9/17/06 - Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Candidates for governor this year give few clues on how often they would use the executive clemency powers if elected.

They offer similar stands on several issues related to crime and punishment.

Democratic nominee Mike Beebe of Searcy said that “any use of the clemency powers must be judicious and sparing.”

Republican nominee Asa Hutchinson of Little Rock said clemency “should be exercised with the highest level of discretion and deference for the jury system.”

Governors have the authority to grant clemency, which can be in the form of a pardon, usually granted to someone who already has served his sentence, or a commutation, a reduction of sentence.

Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican banned by the state’s term-limits amendment from seeking another term, has received criticism for the clemencies he has granted, many of which were granted to violent offenders.
 
Huckabee keeps clemency records in his office private, citing the working-papers exemption granted to the governor in the state Freedom of Information Act.
 
Beebe, the state attorney general and a former state senator, said he would make clemency records public.
 
“I believe in transparency of government whenever possible, and this would be no exception,” Beebe said.
 
Hutchinson, a homeland security consultant, left open the possibility that he would use the working-papers exemption for clemency records.

“Any action on clemency issues should be subject to the Freedom of Information law, and I would fully comply with the FOI law,” said Hutchinson, a former U. S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, a former congressman from Northwest Arkansas, a former U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration head and a former undersecretary for the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.
 
They gave few details about what circumstances would justify granting someone clemency or what procedure would be followed in evaluating applications.