There’s been a lot of news in the Brian Aitken case lately. First there was a rally planned, then there wasn’t a rally planned. Then people started speculating what was up. I’ve been trying to get information on what’s going on. People are being very tight lipped, but there are many people working to get this guy some justice, and not all of it can be publicly broadcast. Governor Christie has this to say about the petition for clemency:
Needless to say this is a delicate matter. Anyone who’s followed Gov. Christie knows this isn’t a guy you can just push around. I’d like to think the Governor wants to do the right thing here, and issue a pardon, but wants to make sure he has his ducks lined up. The fact that this has appeared on the Governor’s own YouTube channel is hopefully a positive sign that he is at least taking this matter under serious consideration. Let us hope he does the right thing.
Hat Tip to Ian Argent
“Do the right thing” Chris. Your one of the few politicians I can see that honestly knows what that saying means.
Excellent news. If the FACTS are as stated and Christie is what he appears to be, there should be a pardon soon.
Very good news!
Knocking on wood with crossed fingers.
Yes, this seems like a no-brainer (probably even to folks who don’t much support gun rights), and I fully expect Christie to do the right thing here.
However, what I am really hoping for going forward is that this issue will bring attention and pressure to bear on some of New Jersey’s more onerous statutes.
I find myself praying for the first time that Christie has national ambitions…
Chris Christie is still an anti-gunner if you ask me. He would have otherwise intervened in the Aitken case already if he was a true believer in individual second amendment rights, and he would have already at least said a thing or two about all of New Jersey’s blatantly unconstitutional gun, knife, and weapon laws.
Ian … you might also consider writing a letter to Christie …
@Carl: Yup. Done it, too.
Ronnie, I don’t think any of us has much confidence that Christie is a passionate believer in the Second Amendment. Personally, I think he’s probably a bit sympathetic to us, but gives–at best–about a quarter of a rat’s ass about guns, and really, really doesn’t want to get into a fight with Jersey’s anti-gun establishment that could derail the economic agenda he really cares about.
By the standards of free America, he’s an anti-gunner. By Jersey standards, he offers that glorious, refreshing benign neglect that we could only dream of during the Corzine years. ;)
There’s a certain amount of “due diligence” that could need to be done. From Chrisie’s point of view, he’s not going to want to issue a high profile pardon, then have some 14 year old girl come forward…
You see what I mean. Governors hate this kind of shit. Largely why the process has been so formalized and delegated to board, to get it as far away from the governor as possible.
I am a little less sanguine about Gov Christie’s 2A views; I believe him to have an anti-freedom gut instinct.
That having been said, Christie’s a politician, and this is an event of national significance with a sympathetic victim. When the worst Bryan Miller can find to harp on is hollow-point bullets, this is a losing cause for his side.
Going out on a limb: Christie pardons (commuting the sentence doesn’t really help because it leaves the conviction intact to be hung around Christie’s neck and allows the appeals to continue) with a message of “This young man made a mistake, he shouldn’t have his life ruined; don’t let it happen again”.
Which is what the cops should have done in the first #*%$* place if they were that all-fired uptight about the HP rounds, confiscate them and put the fear of the Law into Mr. Aitken if they felt the need to “do something”. I mean, really.
@ elmo:
You’re right about what I guess could be considered “pro-gun” by New Jersey standards, that being somebody who isn’t preoccupied with and predisposed toward finding further means by which to completely render the second amendment irrelevant in the Garden State.
Chris Christie’s predecessor Jon Corzine was practically one of those “bearded Marxists” when it came to his efforts to trample on his constituents’ gun rights, and Corzine’s predecessor Jim McGreevey apparently found enough time to pass New Jersey’s ridiculous “smart gun” law when he wasn’t cruising for homosexual liaisons in adult bookstore video booths and rest areas of the Garden State parkway. I don’t know what McGreevey’s predecessor had to say about gun issues, but I’ll bet it wasn’t anything positive if there was anything even said at all.
Neglect, as far as I know. That would have been whats-her-name who went on to become EPA chief under Dubya.
Do I recall correctly that Whitman’s responsible for all gun possession violations being felonies in NJ?
Dunno, before my time.
I thought it was Florio.
It was before Florio. Tom Keane, if I recall. But perhaps it was Brendan Byrne. There’s been a long list of losers in the NJ Governors Mansion. Chris Christie is a cross between George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ayn Rand, and Plato compared to them.
Only thing I could find on Whitman is she was for Zero Tolerance for guns in schools. Probably as fallout from Columbine.
Which NJ governor signed the “assault weapon” ban bill into law? Was that Florio?
That was Florio.