Do you think he should get pardoned or no?

Question

This is in my city and I, personally, think that he has paid his debt and he’s trying hard to help others and move forward. However, others see it as him dealing with the repercussions of his actions. What do you think? Also, what do you think should be the standards/guidelines of getting a pardon to prevent every ex-felon to ask for one?

Answer

He should be pardoned. Part of the justice system is rehabilitation so why isn’t this guy getting to better himself after he has obviously changed? Pardons can be done on case by case basises to keep fools from getting pardoned but this guy clearly deserves it, I don’t even think he deserved that much punishment for 20 years. The state should feel extremely lucky that he rehabilitated HIMSELF this far.

Answer

I think this is a good example of why certain convictions (such as non-violent drug-related offenses) should be expunged after a certain number of years if the convicted person has not reoffended.

Answer

The military has certain standards for a reason. If they changed their standards for a chaplain then what other standards would they look the other way on when people attempt to join the military?

Answer

Actions have consequences.

Answer

Although he's served his time and is rehabilitated he should not get a pardon. A pardon should be reserved for cases of wrongful conviction or in cases where laws have changed and they offer pardons to people previously convicted under those laws. Just because he's served his time doesn't mean that he should get his record wiped clean.
He was guilty of possessing cocaine, he committed the crime, it is still a crime, so he should not receive a pardon. If he gets it then why can't a murderer or a rapist who have served their time and been released?  A criminal record exists for a reason and one of the things used to deter people from committing crimes is knowing that the record will exist for the rest of their lives, if all you have to do is serve your time and give a sob story to get a pardon then there would be no need for a criminal record at all.

Answer

This is all because of drug possession? Ridiculous

Answer

Unless you’re a habitual offender or guilty of a violent crime, I don’t think you should always have this sort of burden placed on you. The war on drugs is a complete joke. When you have people sitting in jail longer for marijuana than rape, you know there’s a real issue with society. 
My boyfriend was arrested many, many years ago for a felony but was never charged or convicted. He technically does not have a felony on his record, but it shows up randomly. When he got hired at his current job, they brought up the charge (that was never actually charged) and he had to contact the court to get all the information proving it. It was supposed to be completely wiped from his record after that, but it still isn’t officially erased.

Answer

He’s paid his time and turned his life around. Also it’s been 20 years, you do dumb stuff when you’re young

Answer

I don't know that he should be pardoned, because he did do the crime, but I also think that having a single drug conviction from 20 years ago shouldn't keep him from being a military chaplain. In this case (and many others) I think the rules for ex-felons are too harsh, and just pardoning them doesn't solve that problem.

Answer

I agree with gov Walker. The system of having the governor issue parsons is mostly going to benefit the privileged and is inherently unfair.  
What I do think though is there should be a process within our judicial system where anyone with a 20yr old non-violent conviction can submit a request for expungement. It shouldn’t be that difficult to run a check across all states for any further convictions and basically have a computer spit out the result.  
Unfortunately this guy is out of luck, and I find that sad and unfortunate, but not unfair.

Do you think he should get pardoned or no?

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