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The Living Force
http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2008/11/conrad-blacks-f.html
Conrad Black's final appeal to his mate Dubya
Could disgraced peer of the realm Conrad Black soon be handed a Get Out of Jail Free card - courtesy of George Bush? According to sources in Canada, the former media baron is now formally lodging a plea for clemency with Dubya - and is expecting his former publishing company (Hollinger International, which now trades as the Sun-Times Media Group) to foot the legal bill.
Under the US Constitution, an outgoing president can grant "reprieves and pardons" for all offences against the US. Because Black is still in prison, he could seek a commutation or reduction of his sentence, along with a reprieve from financial penalties. Lord Black's plea will join a long list. According to the US Department of Justice, more than 2,000 requests for pardons and commutations have recently been made. In June, just weeks before he lost an appeal, Lord Black said he had no plans to request clemency, and had "nothing to do with any such initiative". It seems he has changed his mind.
Lord Black of Crossharbour began serving a six-and-a-half year sentence in March, following his conviction for embezzling millions of dollars from the Hollinger empire. He has already made a number of legal pleas and the Sun-Times Media Group has spent $117 million on his defence and that of other former company officials. "We try to draw the line at outrageous things, and this is sort of one of them," claimed one person close to the company.
Lord Black declined to talk about the clemency to the Toronto Globe and Mail. Instead he sent them an email saying he was "horrifyingly busy with one thing and another ... Writing and reviewing legal initiatives, as well as dealing with my students".
No wonder Black has been such a staunch champion of the Republicans in his recent newspaper columns. Even on the day of the US election, he was still doing his bit to scare the voters by implying that Barack Obama was a Marxist.
But perhaps he shouldn't let his hopes run too high. Dubya has been notoriously stingy with pardons in the past. As governor of Texas, he granted fewer than any of the state's governors since the 1940s. As president, he signed just 157 pardons and six commutations out of 8,000 requests. Bill Clinton granted 459.
Conrad Black's final appeal to his mate Dubya
Could disgraced peer of the realm Conrad Black soon be handed a Get Out of Jail Free card - courtesy of George Bush? According to sources in Canada, the former media baron is now formally lodging a plea for clemency with Dubya - and is expecting his former publishing company (Hollinger International, which now trades as the Sun-Times Media Group) to foot the legal bill.
Under the US Constitution, an outgoing president can grant "reprieves and pardons" for all offences against the US. Because Black is still in prison, he could seek a commutation or reduction of his sentence, along with a reprieve from financial penalties. Lord Black's plea will join a long list. According to the US Department of Justice, more than 2,000 requests for pardons and commutations have recently been made. In June, just weeks before he lost an appeal, Lord Black said he had no plans to request clemency, and had "nothing to do with any such initiative". It seems he has changed his mind.
Lord Black of Crossharbour began serving a six-and-a-half year sentence in March, following his conviction for embezzling millions of dollars from the Hollinger empire. He has already made a number of legal pleas and the Sun-Times Media Group has spent $117 million on his defence and that of other former company officials. "We try to draw the line at outrageous things, and this is sort of one of them," claimed one person close to the company.
Lord Black declined to talk about the clemency to the Toronto Globe and Mail. Instead he sent them an email saying he was "horrifyingly busy with one thing and another ... Writing and reviewing legal initiatives, as well as dealing with my students".
No wonder Black has been such a staunch champion of the Republicans in his recent newspaper columns. Even on the day of the US election, he was still doing his bit to scare the voters by implying that Barack Obama was a Marxist.
But perhaps he shouldn't let his hopes run too high. Dubya has been notoriously stingy with pardons in the past. As governor of Texas, he granted fewer than any of the state's governors since the 1940s. As president, he signed just 157 pardons and six commutations out of 8,000 requests. Bill Clinton granted 459.
