Prison insiders say that former Chicago Congressman and now convicted felon Jesse Jackson, Jr., wants Obama to give pardons to all ex-offenders who have already served their time.
The information comes to The Huntsville Times from John P. Karoly, Jr., one of Jackson’s fellow inmates, via letters sent to the paper. The letters have been chronicling Jackson’s tenure at the federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama.
In 2013 Jackson and his wife were convicted of misusing $75,000 in campaign funds to buy pop culture artifacts such as things from singer Michael Jackson’s career as well as fur coats and other luxury items. He is now serving out his two-and-a-half-year sentence in the Montgomery facility.
Explaining why he is following Jackson’s imprisonment, Karoly said, “I have come to believe that you really never know a man until you have shared his captivity. Consequently, I took it upon myself to [write] my inmate observations about Jesse … observations that can only be made from ‘inside the joint’ … observations that can only be made by an insider.”
Karoly reported that Jackson is doing his duties well but also wrote that he thinks Jackson’s idea of pardoning past offenders will be acceptable to Obama because Jackson supported Obamacare.
“I am still optimistic that President Obama may find the time and inspiration to subscribe to Jesse’s forgiveness formulation, motivated by the same empathy and concern that caused the President to care about some 40 million uninsured Americans,” Karoly said in his messages to the paper.
Jackson was transferred only weeks ago to the Alabama prison after riling authorities at his first stop in North Carolina by acting the part of the jailhouse lawyer, consulting with other prisoners on their cases.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.