GA Men Ask Biden for Executive Pardons

Two men who served long prison sentences based on a law that the President now says was misplaced, the 1994 crime bill, want Biden to undo history.

The men say they served their time and pay their taxes, but the stain of a conviction follows them when they apply for jobs, purchase homes, or apply for loans. Now they are asking the president, who authored the bill thirty years ago as a senator, to show some mercy and extend a full pardon. “As President Biden admits now, this law – he should have never written it. It was wrong then, it’s wrong now,” said one 62-year-old applicant and business-owner.

“You can lock a man up [if] you say he has a gram of powder cocaine. If he changes it, and puts baking soda in it, now it’s 100 to one, not one. Some men have gotten 30 and 40-year life sentences and are still there,” he added.

A Presidential pardon is a Hail Mary pass, but this relief is available, and executives are more likely to grant pardons late in their terms, when they won’t face any backlash.

1994 Crime Bill/1986 Crime Bill

Together, these two pieces of federal legislation upped the ante in the long-running federal government war on crime. Many people say these two laws, especially their drug crime provisions, did more harm than good.

The 1986 crime bill focused mostly on drug crimes. Some people remember the shocking death of basketball phenom Len Bias in 1986. Bias, the Maryland standout many people compared favorably to Michael Jordan, was set to join a Boston Celtics roster that already had four future Hall of Famers. At a draft party, Bias did one line of cocaine, laid down on a bed, and died.

The 1986 crime bill introduced mandatory minimums and included other harsh drug crime penalties. The penalties were much harsher for crack cocaine, on the theory that crack was more concentrated, and more dangerous, than powder cocaine. Probably not coincidentally, crack was the preferred drug for black people, and white people normally used powder cocaine.

Two violent 1993 incidents, the Waco shootout and the 101 California Street shooting in a San Francisco office building, which killed nine people, prompted Congress to pass strict gun control measures. Lawmakers threw in additional drug possession laws for good measure. Once again, the 1994 crime bill unfairly targeted nonwhite people, at least according to some.

Timing is everything in an executive pardon request. The timing may be off for these two Georgia men. Former President Barak Obama granted over 1,700 pardons during his eight years in office. Many of these pardons were 1986/1994 crime bill pardons. In contrast, his predecessor George W. Bush granted 200 pardons over the same amount of time.

Executive pardon is just one form of post-trial relief. A Marietta criminal defense lawyer usually has other options as well. More on that below.

Defending Possession Cases in Cobb County

Frequently, the best defense is a good offense. If a Marietta criminal defense lawyer sufficiently undermines the evidence in a drug or weapons possession case, post-trial relief isn’t necessary. Illegal possession cases have three basic elements in Georgia (the PIK defense):

• Produce the Item in Court: Physical evidence is inadmissible in court unless officers complied with the Fourth Amendment. If they didn’t have a valid warrant based on probable cause, a narrow search warrant exception, such as owner consent to search, must apply. An informant’s tip, by itself, usually isn’t probable cause. Furthermore, consent must be voluntary.
• Prove it was Illegal: Sensory field tests (it looked and tasted like crack) don’t hold up in court. Instead, a scientific test must prove the substance was illegal. This issue looms large in marijuana possession cases. Illegal marijuana looks, smells, and feels like legal hemp. As for weapons, the law is very specific as to which guns and accoutrements are illegal. This list changes frequently.
• Establish Knowledge and Control: A Marietta criminal defense lawyer often emphasizes this point in vehicle possession cases. Drugs or a pistol might be within reach, at least legally, but the defendant may not know about the item or have control over it. That’s especially true if an illegal item was under a seat on the other side of the vehicle.

The defense doesn’t have to be strong enough to “beat” the case at trial. It must only be strong enough to obtain a charge-reduction plea bargain. If the evidence is weak, many prosecutors reduce felony charges to misdemeanor charges.

For both sides, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Prosecutors obtain a conviction, and misdemeanors don’t have the same collateral consequences as felonies.

Post-Trial Relief

Before we discuss post-trial relief options, we should return to the “best defense is a good offense” theme. In many cases, the defendant pleads guilty, but a conviction doesn’t mar the defendant’s permanent record.

Deferred disposition is usually available, especially in nonviolent possession cases. At the sentencing hearing, the defendant pleads guilty, but the judge doesn’t utter the magic words “I find you guilty.” Instead, the judge “defers” the “disposition” until the defendant completes probation. If the defendant successfully completes probation, the judge dismisses the case.

A Marietta criminal defense lawyer can make it easier to complete probation, usually by reducing the length, or at least modifying the conditions. Judges have almost absolute discretion to do either of these things at any time.

Georgia also has a two-step record restriction process. First, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole must grant a pardon. A GBPP pardon isn’t a rubber stamp, but it’s much easier to obtain than an executive pardon. Second, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer must ask the judge for record restriction. Usually, the lifetime limit is two misdemeanor convictions and one felony conviction.

Deferred disposition and record restriction don’t affect arrest records. Fortunately, most landlords, employers, and other inquirers only ask about conviction records.

Executive pardon is basically a two-step process. Both steps depend on timing, as mentioned above. First, the governor must consider the petition. A good Marietta criminal defense lawyer has connections in the statehouse and knows how to get an application on the governor’s desk. Second, the governor must be in a forgiving mood, or the application must jive with the governor’s political agenda.

Criminal cases don’t always have lifelong consequences. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense lawyer, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.