Anderson Cooper To Judge: Did Alleged Cop Killer Trick You With Christianity?

by Robert Quigley | 9:04 am, December 1st, 2009

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The news that police shot alleged cop killer Maurice Clemmons this morning doesn’t dispel the questions raised by his release. Last night, shortly after former governor Mike Huckabee got a fairly gentle interview on The O’Reilly Factor, Anderson Cooper grilled Judge Marion Humphrey, who had supported Clemmons’ release from prison. Among other things, he asked if Humphrey and Huckabee had been duped by Clemmons’ professed Christian beliefs.

Judge Humphrey was open about his own Christianity from the start of the interview. In response to Cooper’s questions about how a man with such a long rap sheet got released, he had this to say: “this is the Advent season. And one of the things about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, is that he promoted mercy. And that is a part of the makeup of some of us who serve on the benches, who serve on parole boards, who serve in governor’s office.”

Humphrey hesitated to say that he regretted trusting Clemmons, though he condemned the “atrocity” of the police shooting. At this point, Cooper turned up the heat, asking if the suspect “tricked” Judge Humphrey — and Governor Huckabee — by professing Christian beliefs: (transcript via CNN)

COOPER: Do you think he — do you think he tricked you? I mean, you talk about being a Christian and…

HUMPHREY: No, no, no, he didn’t — he didn’t trick me. He didn’t trick me in anything. He didn’t say anything about his belief in Jesus Christ. I spoke of my belief of Christ. And I believe in his mercy.

COOPER: Because he does talk about his belief in Christ to — to Governor Huckabee in this.

HUMPHREY: He did not speak of that to me, though.

COOPER: OK.

HUMPHREY: That is to Governor Huckabee. And I think Governor Huckabee acted very responsibly in this whole matter.

An uncompromising line of attack? Maybe so, but if Huckabee has future political ambitions (he says he’s leaning against a 2012 presidential run, but who kn0ws), it’s one he’ll need to be prepared for.

In the past, Huckabee’s evangelical Christianity has been touted as an advantage within the Republican party. If his political opponents paint his stance in the Maurice Clemmons affair as naively live-and-let-live, they could potentially twist it into a liability, however fairly or unfairly.

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5 comments

same2u says:

December 1, 2009 at 9:27 am

I don’t trust the godliness of parole applicants anymore than I do of political figures like Newt Gingrich, George Bush and Sarah Palin.

ImNotBlue says:

December 1, 2009 at 11:49 am

same2u says:
December 1, 2009 at 9:27 am

Is it a left/right thing… or do you not trust ALL politicians on matters of faith?

Nachi says:

December 1, 2009 at 1:29 pm

The world has long been duped by those who profess to be Christians. Paganism, Witchcrafterery, Wicca – you name it. The juicy beliefs of the crazed evangelical set will approve anything – provided you name “Jessussah” in your uttering (s). Filtering hatred, bitterness, criminality – thru Christ1 Yup.

libra blue says:

December 1, 2009 at 2:38 pm

@Robert, As I said on one of Mediaite’s earlier posts, Anderson did a pretty good job with this interview until he weakened at the end and allowed Humphrey to take control of the interview. It was so abrupt that I think CNN must have told him to back off of the judge so he let him run off at the mouth.

Humphrey used the interview to make excuses for himself and for Clemmons. I don’t believe that he didn’t know that Clemmons had already violated his parole when he acted as justice of the peace at Clemmons’ marriage nor do I believe that Clemmons did not talk about religion with the judge since, as Anderson said, he spoke about it to Huckabee. I also don’t believe Humphrey asked for leniency based on any type of religious “mercy.” Since when are judges allowed to make legal decisions based on their religious beliefs?

Also, it was outrageous for Humphrey to describe these murders as an “embarrassment” to the murderers family! Anderson should have said something about that. It also sounds like the judge has some doubts that this scumbag even committed these crimes.

People are delusional if they don’t think race had anything to do with Clemmons being released over and over again and I have to wonder how many more Clemmonses there are out there that have been released for the very same reason.

libra blue says:

December 1, 2009 at 3:34 pm

AP is reporting that an officer has killed Maurice Clemmons. Good riddance to bad rubbish! It was poetic justice that a cop took him out. At least now he can’t slip thro anymore “loopholes” in the justice system and the taxpayers will not be burdened with his expenses.

I am counting the minutes until Al “Tawana Brawley” Sharpton and the ACLU start rioting in the streets demanding an investigation into this shooting.

This cop should be given an award.

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