Folks for those that have not heard, on his last day in office Mississippi Gov Boss Hogg issued almost 200 pardons, which by historic standards here in Mississippi is a huge number for a Gov. It is troubling that he seemed to favor male murderers that killed women and the sheer number of last day pardons has some observers wondering if Gov Hogg engaged in some pay to play with the process. I don’t know what the going rate is for a pardon these days but legendary Louisiana legislator B.B. “Sixty” Rayburn, a Mississippi guy from way far back, once told me the story of how 2 head of cattle got his relative a pardon from then Mississippi Gov Bilbo so it is a fair question in my estimation. My own two cents there is I don’t think Boss Hogg took any money folks but to paraphrase Nowdy I think I know how the cat or in this case the Hogg thinks.
There are two folks on the Gov’s list that drew my particular attention as I knew the victims personally and both have been highlighted in the press feeding frenzy today including an erroneous report in the Jackson Clarion Ledger. Before I get to them let me begin with the Mississippi AP trio of Holbrook Mohr, Emily Wagster Pettus and Jeff Amy’s coverage:
Among those getting full pardons was the brother of former NFL quarterback and Southern Miss standout Brett Favre. Earnest Scott Favre had his record cleared in the 1996 death of his best friend, Mark Haverty. Favre had driven in front of a train in Pass Christian while drunk, pleaded guilty in 1997, and was sentenced to a year of house arrest followed by two years’ probation.
I’ve known the victim’s family since I was a kid and due to the fact that Scott’s brother Brett is famous, this case made big news on the coast when the alcohol fueled tragedy happened back in the mid 90s. Continue reading “Boss Hogg leaves office with a bang as all the talk today in Mississippi is about his last minute pardons”