Former Republican Gov. Haley Barbour is under criticism for the full pardons of almost 200 people, including 14 convicted murderers. Mississippi’s attorney general Jim Hood said the pardons violate the state constitution. Mississippi law requires pardon request be published 30 days before they are granted. Four convicted murderers and an armed robber were released Sunday.
Barbour defended his actions, saying that the majority of the pardons were for people no longer in jail. “The pardons were intended to allow them to find gainful employment or acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote,” Barbour wrote in a statement. Hood maintained that the pardons are “a slap in the face to everyone in law enforcement and Gov. Barbour should be ashamed.”
