Presidential pardon for would be gun buyer......

[Knuckle Dragger]

Nickel-and-dime crime one of nine to get presidential pardon

In 1963, he [Foster] was earning $82 a month as a Marine at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, when he says he and 16 others hatched a scheme to cut pennies into dimes so they could use them in vending machines....

But the Secret Service caught them. They were marched into a courtroom on base, where his commanding officer entered a plea on their behalf to mutilation of coins, he says.

Foster was sentenced to a year of probation and a $20 fine, and he thought the incident was behind him. He served in Vietnam the next year and left the Marine Corps 12 years later to join the Pennsylvania National Guard. He got a job at a plant that manufactures ceilings near his home in Beaver Falls, got married and had a son.

Then, in 2005, he applied for a gun permit and found out for the first time he had a felony conviction. He applied for a presidential pardon, which was officially granted Friday, in the first round of pardons during Obama's administration.

 

[OnTheRoad]

You won't hear me say this very often, but "Thank you, Mr. President."

Armed robberies and drive-by shootings are one thing, shaving pennies is something else. I'm probably hoping for way too much, but I wonder what chances there are of this leading into a more rational look at gun ownership disqualification criteria?

 

[terraformer]

I'm probably hoping for way too much, but I wonder what chances there are of this leading into a more rational look at gun ownership disqualification criteria?

Plenty of very good chances.

 

[FreeWillie]

You won't hear me say this very often, but "Thank you, Mr. President."

Yep!

 

[Dench]

Obama did the right thing here for sure.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

What I think is interesting is the trend in pardons issued by presidents over the years. Presidents have been fairly generous in the past with their pardons - JFK pardoned ALL first time offenders of the 1956 Narcotics Control Act. But recent presidents have been down-right miserly and have garnered negative publicity with some politically motivated pardons like Marc Rich and Scooter Libby (commutation only).

The ability to grant pardons and commute sentences is one of the great powers reserved for the executive. Presidents can afford to be a little more generous with this power than they have been. Obama is only up to nine. I hope he breaths a little new life into this very exclusive executive power.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

The ultimate pardon miser was Romney at the state level - no pardons, ever - with the excuse being that it would be "second guessing the jury".

 

[Spanz]

So...if I were to drill a hole in a penny to use it as a makeshift washer, would that be a "felony mutilation of coins"?

We have WAY too many laws on the books!!!

 

[HKdrummer]

It appears from the list that Obama has a soft spot for coke heads......

 

[TheRoland]

Great decision. Obama's been getting alot of heat for not using his pardon power at all, and this looks like a worthy way to change that.

 

[MisterHappy]

So...if I were to drill a hole in a penny to use it as a makeshift washer, would that be a "felony mutilation of coins"?

We have WAY too many laws on the books!!!

IANAL, but I don't believe that simple "mutilation" woudl be a problem - after all, the .gov made their money on the seigniorage. Witness the penny-crushers at the Museum of science, and other places, that make pennies into souveniers.

In the original case, the pennies were "upgraded," which is forgery.

Penny ante, yes, but if the Secret Service keeps an eye on the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves!

Good pardon, though....