Huckabee's Faith-Based Views Find Critics, Fans in Both Parties

Chris Pyle, Huckabee's liaison to the state's religious community, said, "I don't think it was a notion of forgiveness as much as desire to see justice executed evenly, which is a component of his faith."

But victims' rights advocates worried that Huckabee personalized the pardon process. Two men convicted of violent crimes, one for armed robbery, another for murder, got reduced sentences after they served as helpers in the governor's mansion as part of their incarceration and got to know people around Huckabee.

One family was furious to find that the governor referred to the man who had killed their relative by his first name.

"I always liked Huckabee. I was one of those who voted for him until he started letting murderers and rapists out," said Dee Engle, who works for a group in Little Rock that represents families of murdered children. "Calling them by their first name is unacceptable."

In 1999, explaining a decision to reduce the sentence of a man on death row to life in prison, Huckabee said: "I am fully aware of the likely reaction to this decision and further realize the gravity of such a decision. But I must stand ultimately before God and account for my decision. I'd rather face the anger of people than the anger of God."

Still, nothing opened him to more criticism than his acceptance of thousands of dollars in gifts, even though they were legal. The Huckabees used a state fund for improving the governor's mansion to buy personal items such as pantyhose. When Huckabee was leaving office, the couple set up a registry for people to give them gifts for their post-gubernatorial home. An ethics board here found that Huckabee violated the law five times in not disclosing income on time or not filling out the proper paperwork for gifts and money earned from speeches.