http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/06/among-dozens-seeking-pardons-hollywood-star-makes-his-case/WGkce6cdSOhfHLrU4cyWqN/story.html#comments

I admit to liking some of his movies. And he does seem like he has changed his life around. But the fact remains he beat two Vietnamese men nearly to death. While shouting racists obscenities at him. Lovely things like ''Vietnam fucking shit'' and g..k. I don't think he deserves a pardon for these things. He may have done these when he was an angry young man. And i have done some rough things in my childhood too. But he blinded a man in one eye... you shouldn't be pardoned for that. No matter how big or successful you become in life.

This is also further proof how crimes against Asians go ignored. Hate crimes against Asians are usually ignored or never talked about. Vietnamese people in America were treated like dog shit in the 80's and early 90's Post war bullshit anger from ignorant white people. Mark hasn't even bothered to apologize to the two victims over the years either.

But lets be totally honest here though. He's rich, white, and is a big name. He will probably be pardoned for his crimes no matter what.

[Edited 12/8/14 14:33pm]

[Edited 12/8/14 14:36pm]

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Getty Images

Mark Wahlberg.

To those who watched Mark Wahlberg transform from a skinny Dorchester delinquent to a Hollywood leading man, the actor deserves a pardon for beating a man outside a convenience store in 1988.

But to some who remember the havoc he wreaked in Boston almost three decades ago, the disclosure this week that Wahlberg is asking the state to erase his teenage offenses from the record is infuriating.

Nam Pham, executive director of VietAID, a Vietnamese community organization in Dorchester, said Wahlberg should first apologize directly to Thanh Lam, a Vietnamese man Wahlberg beat with a stick more than a quarter century ago. Wahlberg also screamed obscenities and racial epithets.

“If I were him I would want the scar on my record erased,” Pham said of Wahlberg. “But I would also ask if I could help erase the scars on the victim.”

RELATED: Mark Wahlberg applies to have 1988 assault erased

In a separate episode, some from a class that was harassed in 1986 by a group of teens that included Wahlberg were not impressed with his request for a pardon.

View Story

From the archives: Wahlberg reckons with allegations

Multiple teenage incidents trailed Wahlberg as he built his career as a hip-hop artist, then an actor.

Mary Belmonte, the class teacher, remembered leading her terrified elementary school students down a side street to avoid the hail of rocks. “I’m sure he’s sincere and he wants to clear his name,” Belmonte said. “It would be nice if he could apologize and really own up to what he was.’’

Wahlberg, 43, is one of at least 70 people who have applied for a pardon in the months before Governor Deval Patrick leaves office.

Other petitions for pardons have come from a Georgia store manager who sold crack cocaine; a Sheffield father arrested in the mid-90s for bringing marijuana to his high school; and a convicted gang member turned street activist.

Patrick this year changed the guidelines to make it easier for people to apply for pardons or commutations — reductions in prison sentences — leading to a flurry of applications. The guidelines were expanded to include those who pose no risk of re-offending and can show they have made extraordinary contributions to society.

The Boston Globe

Mark Wahlberg at a 1992 hearing.

In his application, Wahlberg described the 1988 assault on Lam as the actions of a foolish high school dropout who was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Wahlberg was 16 at the time.

“I am deeply sorry for the action that I took on the night of April 8, 1988, as well as for any lasting damage that I may have caused the victims,” he wrote. Wahlberg said his conviction stands in the way of expanding his restaurant ventures and working more closely with law enforcement officials to help “at-risk individuals.”

Wahlberg was sentenced to two years for the 1988 attack and served about 45 days in a Plymouth jail.

Lam, Wahlberg’s victim, could not be reached for comment. Wahlberg’s publicist did not return calls for comment.

Those who had encounters with the young Wahlberg differed on whether his pardon request should be granted. Those critics include people involved in the 1986 incident involving the elementary school children.

In 1986, Kristyn Atwood, then 9, and a black classmate were on a school field trip at Savin Hill Beach when three boys began following them. They yelled racial slurs, according to court records, then began throwing rocks. One hit Atwood’s forehead.

One of the boys was Wahlberg, according to court records. The state’s attorney general filed a civil complaint against him and his friends. The complaint was dismissed in 1987.

“When people talk about racism in Boston, I always remember that,” said Atwood, now 38 and living in Georgia.

Atwood was not aware that one of the teens who harassed her and her classmate was Wahlberg.

He assaulted Lam, the Vietnamese man he encountered outside the convenient store, in 1988.

“For him to try to get it overturned and make it seem like it never happened? I don't think that’s fair,” she said, referring to his request for a pardon.

But Emmett Folgert, longtime head of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative in Fields Corner, said Wahlberg’s ability to get past his crimes and go on to achieve enormous success is inspirational.

“He sure is a role model for anyone who comes from a low-income urban neighborhood and makes good,” said Folgert, who knew Wahlberg when he was a 13-year-old breakdancing at DYC, a non-profit center with the mission of steering teenagers and children away from crime.

Wahlberg donates to the center regularly and every year sends hundreds of children living in Dorchester to summer camps in New England, Folgert said.

“He’s never forgotten where he came from,” Folgert said. “He deserves [a pardon]. Absolutely he deserves to be pardoned. Look at what he’s done.”

The Rev. James Flavin, who was a parish priest in Dorchester, counseled the actor when he was a teenager. The two men are still close.

“His life speaks for itself,” Flavin said. “He’s really turned his life around in faith, family and giving back. They’re the hallmarks of his life.”

Wahlberg’s bid, first reported this week by NECN, has some in the legal community hoping that the celebrity’s application will shed more light on a byzantine process that often forces people to wait months to learn whether they will have a chance to go before the Advisory Board of Pardons to make their case.

“You file a petition and it’s sort of a waiting game to find out if you get a hearing,” said Rosemary C. Scapicchio, a Boston defense lawyer. “If someone high-profile like Wahlberg wants to get a pardon and he’s able to secure a hearing then maybe it gives a road map to the rest of us.”

If Wahlberg is granted a hearing before the advisory board, also known as the Parole Board, he would have to answer questions during a recorded, public process. The board would then make a recommendation to the governor, who decides whether to forward the pardon application to the Governor’s Council, an elected body that has the final word whether a pardon is granted.

Only 10 hearings have been granted this year; five of those cases were recommended to the governor, and Patrick has passed along four to the council. The last time pardons were granted was in 2002, during acting Governor Jane Swift’s administration.

On Friday, Patrick declined to say whether he would consider Wahlberg’s application.

“I don’t look at applications,” Patrick told reporters at the Statehouse. “I just get recommendations that come to me from the Parole Board, and I’m not going to get involved until something does, if it does.”

If the board recommends Wahlberg’s petition and Patrick approves it, Wahlberg will probably have to go before the Governor’s Council for another public hearing. The council would then take a vote.

Councilor Mike Albano said Wahlberg’s application shows he has changed.

“If and when Governor Patrick . . . submits the petition to the Council, I am prepared to act favorably,” Albano said.

Councilor Terrence Kennedy said he hopes to hear from the victim or his family if they chose to speak out.

“I don't know anything about the crime,” Kennedy said. “I know he’s done a lot of good things and that’s what pardons are about. It’s for people who have changed their lives and want to clear their names.”

There's also the fact he terrorized other people of color. People seem to think ''thug'' refers to only African Americans which is racist bullshit. Mark Wahlberg terrorized many people of color. He was violent, a drug fiend, racist etc. And nearly murdered two guys when he was 16. He is the definition of what a thug is to me.

i agree that he shouldn't receive a pardon

what he did was despicable and should stay on his record, regardless of the fact that he leads a different life now

i wonder if he's tracked the victims down and thrown a mil or two their way... <-- sarcasm

Cinny said:

No.

Just watch this shit



And the lady asking ''were you good at robbing' she wouldn't ask that if it was a black actor. Then he would seem violent and scary. But because he's ole mary mark. It's funny to talk about how good he was at robbing. pssh....

the bigest part of being truly contrite is accepting a "no"

the bigest part of being truly contrite is accepting a "no"

Only if the victims all agree.

Cinny said:

BTW his flow in this is horrible this was a top 10 hit? i am sure no stations played it since 91. But damn his flow is just... like... vanilla ice quality. Good Vibrations as absolutely shitty as it is. At least had a pump you up beat to drown out rapping.

To err is human; to forgive, divine

It serves no purpose to have him pardoned.

Gunsnhalen said:

Cinny said:

BTW his flow in this is horrible this was a top 10 hit? i am sure no stations played it since 91. But damn his flow is just... like... vanilla ice quality. Good Vibrations as absolutely shitty as it is. At least had a pump you up beat to drown out rapping.

No song was played as much as "Good Vibrations" but this was a pretty big hit.

JustErin said:

It serves no purpose to have him pardoned.

i read that Marky can't open more chains of Wahlburgers without the pardon, but then I heard Toronto already got one?

JustErin said:

It serves no purpose to have him pardoned.

.

This says he wants to become a cop:

.

http://www.avclub.com/article/mark-wahlberg-wants-felony-record-wiped-clean-so-h-212757

Gunsnhalen said:

Just watch this shit



And the lady asking ''were you good at robbing' she wouldn't ask that if it was a black actor. Then he would seem violent and scary. But because he's ole mary mark. It's funny to talk about how good he was at robbing. pssh....

>

This dummy was discredited as a credible journalist when she was too lazy to fact check a story. Got let go from 60 Minutes for a time but I think she's back. She went into the eye of the Arab Spring seemingly without any sort of entourage and would up getting sexually assaulted. I don't know about this girl. She is pretty though.

No.

nd33 said:

JustErin said:

It serves no purpose to have him pardoned.

.

This says he wants to become a cop:

.

http://www.avclub.com/article/mark-wahlberg-wants-felony-record-wiped-clean-so-h-212757

Like I said, serves no purpose.

CynicKill said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Just watch this shit



And the lady asking ''were you good at robbing' she wouldn't ask that if it was a black actor. Then he would seem violent and scary. But because he's ole mary mark. It's funny to talk about how good he was at robbing. pssh....

>

This dummy was discredited as a credible journalist when she was too lazy to fact check a story. Got let go from 60 Minutes for a time but I think she's back. She went into the eye of the Arab Spring seemingly without any sort of entourage and would up getting sexually assaulted. I don't know about this girl. She is pretty though.

she's stunning... that aside... what happened to her was horrible

http://www.cbsnews.com/ne...o-assault/

MoBettaBliss said:

CynicKill said:

>

This dummy was discredited as a credible journalist when she was too lazy to fact check a story. Got let go from 60 Minutes for a time but I think she's back. She went into the eye of the Arab Spring seemingly without any sort of entourage and would up getting sexually assaulted. I don't know about this girl. She is pretty though.

she's stunning... that aside... what happened to her was horrible

http://www.cbsnews.com/ne...o-assault/

>

It sure was, but for someone who's supposedly so smart, she sure does seem to leave her brain in her attache case!

JustErin said:

nd33 said:

.

This says he wants to become a cop:

.

http://www.avclub.com/article/mark-wahlberg-wants-felony-record-wiped-clean-so-h-212757

Like I said, serves no purpose.

.

I think this case deserves consideration, all things considered including the time passed.

I think all 16 year olds who have made mistakes deserve a chance for redemption.

I think society needs to take some responsibility for how kids are raised and their actions, they are a reflection of us all.

I think the victims would have first say in the hearing though, if they wanted.

.

Until the Black Panthers are pardoned (yeah, that's right!), hell no!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Until the Black Panthers are pardoned (yeah, that's right!), hell no!

Do Black Panthers seek a pardon?

PANDURITO said:

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Until the Black Panthers are pardoned (yeah, that's right!), hell no!

Do Black Panthers seek a pardon?

I don't know. I haven't been consulted.