Obama Pardons Sala Udin, Three Others For Past Crimes
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - President Obama just delivered a Christmas gift to former Pittsburgh councilman and civil rights activist Sala Udin.
"Oh my god. I could not believe it," Udin told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday. "It was such an elation."
What did Udin receive?
"A full, unconditional pardon," he said.
It's a unique power of the President -- to pardon anyone convicted of a crime or to commute or reduce their sentence in prison.
"I view it as a second chance," said Udin.
Besides Udin once known as Samuel Howze, Obama also pardoned James Hoeckelman of Irwin (charged with marijuana possession and sale), Michael Facchione Jr. of Venetia (charged with mail fraud), and Theresa Bishop of Bloomfield (charged with falsifying gun purchase forms).
Udin was returning home after civil rights activities in Mississippi in 1970 when he was stopped for an unloaded shotgun and moonshine in his trunk.
"What I was charged with was transporting a gun across state lines. That made it a federal offense and a felony. And it's something I've lived with for 46 years."
No one knows if his civil rights work led to the 5-year jail sentence, but it was severe.
"It would not be brought today, and it probably would not even be prosecuted."
That's true for thousands in jail today.
What really bothers President Obama is that years ago once a defendant was convicted by a jury, the judge in a courtroom would sentence that defendant to far more years in prison than a court would ever do today.
So far, President Obama has pardoned 148 people and commuted sentences for 1,176 people, many non-violent drug offenders.
University of Pittsburgh criminal law professor John Burkhoff predicts more pardons in the last weeks of Obama's term.
So can President Trump reverse this?
"No, he cannot," says Burkhoff. "When it's done, it's done, and that's that."
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