Willie Horton
publication date: Wednesday, November 9, 2016 (part of Fall 2016)
category: 
Crime
clue: Giving prisoners like him the weekend off may have cost Michael Dukakis the presidency.
explanation: William Horton, mistakenly called "Willie" in the press, was a convicted felon in Massachusetts while Dukakis was governor. On furlough, he did not return to prison and committed several violent crimes. This leniency on criminals was a major weakness of Dukakis's presidential campaign and it is often suggested to have cost him the election. more…
intended difficulty: medium
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, and Jesse King
trivia: Scott accidentally used a photograph of convicted felon Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez instead of Horton. The only player to guess Lopez-Sanchez was LaVonne Lemler, who wasn't able to protest the "incorrect" ruling until the goo had already expired, robbing her of a chance to guess again under the rules.
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