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The true sentencing turkeys on this Thanksgiving eve

By Douglas Berman

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As detailed in this FOXnews piece, President Obama showed his sense of humor when he issued his first turkey pardon this morning:

President Obama hammed it up on Wednesday, pardoning two turkeys Wednesday in a traditional White House ceremony that he joked didn’t always end on a positive note. Accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, Obama honored a White House holiday tradition that dates to Harry Truman’s time as president.

Looking at the turkeys — Courage and Carolina presented by the National Turkey Federation — Obama joked that he couldn’t fault past presidents from eating turkeys. “That’s a good looking bird,” he said to laughter. Obama said the turkeys had the interventions of daughters to thank for this year’s pardon “because I was planning to eat this sucker.”…

Obama also noted that two other turkeys were donated to a D.C. charity. “So today, all told, I believe it’s fair to say that we have saved or created four turkeys,” he joked, alluding to his $787 billion economic stimulus package that has drawn criticism for the number of jobs the White House has claimed it has created.

Relatedly, as this NPR feature shows, the White House found the time to put together a funny video called “One Lone Turkey” that explains how a single turkey is going to get a second chance.  Though I am disinclined to be grumpy about this quaint new Presidential traditional, this AP article headline highlights why I cannot find this event too much of a laughing matter: “Obama’s first pardon: A turkey named ‘Courage’.” 

I was hoping that President Obama and others in the White House would try to find a few real persons to make thankful this week with real-world clemency decisions.  As I have noted, in many prior posts President Obama is already historically slow in using his clemency power as he approaches the end of a full year in office without one single clemency grant.  Moreover, as this official webpage reveals, it appears that President Obama has over 3,000 requests for pardons and commutations sitting unresolved on his Oval Office desk.

So, one true sentencing turkey on this Thanksgiving eve is President Obama and criminal justice members of his White House team, none of whom seem to concerned with the fact that the President has now shown more concern about justice for terrorists and mercy for turkeys than for any others impacted by harshness of the modern the federal criminal system.

But I also think that the media, public policy groups and the left side of the blogosphere also merit some turkey awards this Thanksgiving eve.  Save for an effective commentary noted here yesterday, I have seem precious little recent media discussion of the failure of President Obama to bring any hope or change to federal clemency stinginess.  And lots of criminal justice groups and bloggers, who I think should be making a big stink about Obama’s first pardon being a turkey, all seem to be conspicuously silent on this matter so far.

Some related posts on federal clemency realities: