Lin Guo
THE PRESIDENT’S POWER TO PARDON
INTRODUCTION
Each Thanksgiving Day, the White House would put on a play of “presidential pardon” to ceremoniously pardon a turkey to be slaughtered. The Presidential pardon power is a great tradition of the United State government, equivalent to the privilege of the king in the United Kingdom. The founding fathers of the United States wrote the presidential pardon power into the Constitution was to enable the president to better handle emergencies and political rebellions. The presidential pardon has been used to appease political insurgencies, such as pardoning rebels at the appropriate time to restore peace. Another aim of the presidential pardon power is to achieve a balance among the executive, legislative
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The pardon power of the United Kingdom is a royal prerogative, and can be considered as the personal behavior of the king to “pardon” the guilt of the rebels. William F. Duker, The President’s Power To Pardon: A Constitutional History, 18 William and Mary L. Rev. 475, 476 (1977). In the American colonies, the king of England entrusted his pardon power to the rulers in the American colonies to allow them to use this power based on the interests of the royal family. Id. at 479. After the American War of Independence, the colonial governments were replaced by the state governments. Since the Executive branch of the colonial governments once used this pardon power, it was a logical result to transfer this power to the governors of these independent states. Meanwhile, the framers of the Constitution was immersed in the English legal tradition, and thought that it was necessary to retain or establish the pardon power. Id. at 502. Therefore, this approach was …show more content…
It is wrong to observe the practices of the American judicial system merely through a case. Basically, the judicial system of the United States is based on the principle of judicial independence. As long as there is no need for the case to overturn the original judgment and lodge an appeal, the jury’s decision and the judge’s sentence must be respected. Moreover, The Supreme Court “never has been called upon to judge the validity of an open pardon like the Nixon pardon.” William F. Duker, The President’s Power To Pardon: A Constitutional History, 18 William and Mary L. Rev. at 532. From statistical data, it can be seen that the situation of the president or governor intervening in the judicial system is extremely rare. Mira Gur-Arie and Russell Wheeler1, Judicial Independence in the United States: Current Issues and Relevant Background Information, 133
The King in his right mind has total control and power of the colonies and can do whatever he deems necessary to control them. With that said, The king of that time, not thinking about the peoples feelings went ahead and instead of making the people happy did whatever he could to make the government better. Which in the long run was to make money. Well every time the king mad a law to make up for another law that the people didn’t like, it
During the time period of 1600 to 1776, the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed massively. The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed greatly because of three main reasons: the relationships that the colonies and Great Britain were built on, the struggles that the colonists faced because of their relationships with Great Britain, and the anger that the colonists expressed because of the ridiculous taxes that they had to pay. Once the colonists realized that they were suffering under British rule, most of the colonists became eager to be independent from Great Britain. The colonists’ Second Continental Congress believed that the acts and taxes created by the British Parliament were unconstitutional, unjust, and unfair towards the colonists and because of that belief, the Declaration signers forever changed our country.
In England, King John was restricting the citizens’ rights, consequently the nobles rebelled against King John. In 1215 AD, the nobles forced King John to sign a document called the “Magna Carta” (or “Great Charter” in English). The Magna Carta tried to enforce the concepts of rule of law, trial by jury, and limited government. Due process is a fair trial by your peers and a speedy trial, which makes it less likely for an unjust trial. This concept is reflected in the United States Constitution: Clause 39 of the Manga Carta states, “No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.” The Manga Carta is saying that you need to have a trial by jury. Article 2, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, the document that formed the American government, states: “The Trial of all Crimes; except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury.” The Constitution was denoting that a citizen has the right to a trial by jury, parallel to the Manga Carta. A trial by jury is an important concept in a government, because it allows people to be tried justly. If
This is the same argument that Paine makes when he explains that the ruling of England is flawed because the King of England’s “speech, if at may be called one, is nothing better than wilful audacious libel against the truth, the common good, and the existence of mankind; and is formal and pompous method of offering up human sacrifices to the pride of tyrants” (Paine 58). As we can see, both authors argue that the King of England is a tyrant; this is one of the many reasons that the colonies must unite and break away from England.
A1: Though the three English colonial regions—the Chesapeake area, New England, and Pennsylvania—were all relatively close to each other, there were stark differences between them. To begin with, they all had very different government structures. In the Chesapeake area, the government closely resembled that of England where power resided in one individual. In England there was a king while in Maryland, there was a royal governor. In both cases, the ruling individual had control over all branches of the government; however, the successor of the first governor in Maryland soon realized that colonists would not enjoy fewer liberties in the colonies than at home. Hence, Cecilius Calvert gave up their rights to initiate all colonial laws and shifted power to the people by governing by their advice and with consent. On the other hand, in New England, government was theocratic in nature where church and state were synonymous and where power resided in the leaders of the church. In addition, the Pennsylvanians had a much more democratic government structure where there was a proprietor and a legislative assembly that gave the people the right to appoint government officials—one of many rights that
The Declaration of Independence was written justifying the reasons for revolting against the British rule. It served three purposes, outlining its theory of government, listing complaints, and declaring war. The main complaint was the passage of unfavorable laws in England that affected the colonists yet they were not represented within the English Parliament to air the opinions while such laws were being passed. Though appearing like a logical argument, the British might have viewed it as diluting their power within their own parliament. Another complaint was the King’s role in making it difficult for the Colonists to participate in governance; this might also have been seen as undermining the British power in America and then there was forbidding laws that would have established significant judiciary powers. The King being the supreme source of justice might have viewed it as undermining
The British crown even had the right to overturn any law that the colonist made by using the Royal Veto
As we all know, the America was the colony of Britain in the past. Therefore, the legality of rule the colony should have the British’s promise, then the governor-general
The British King and Parliament were depriving colonists of their natural rights, therefore justifying the colonists' actions of rebellion and independence.
Well I’m here to tell you that that is not the case. In the Declaration it is said, “He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.” He did not care whether or not the Colonists were in danger which is something that a King should never do. Any leader should always take his people into consideration. King George was so mean to his people they had the audacity to call him a tyrant which was probably one of the cruelest things you could call someone in that day. To conclude, the King was the one in the wrong here, not the colonists.
Neither citizens were given any sort of power in government. The king and Parliament of Britain were running rampant without power. The British Constitution stated that there was to be a House of Commons along with a Parliament (Document #1). This was to allow citizens to have power and a say in government. Sir William Meredith, a British politician, referred to Britain as a republic. Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, laughed and stated that the government was not worth of that title (Document #1). Thomas Paine understand the entire extent of the king’s overwhelming power. If the House of Commons (the people) was listened to, then the king’s power would have been lessened. The king wanted to be the most powerful and have the last and most important say in all matters. Because of this, the king made sure his power was taken seriously in all spaces of the realm (Document #1). Thomas Paine states that the reason colonists are not retaliating is because they think they have power because they have the House of Commons (Document #1). But what they don’t realize is that their opinion is not listened to. Thomas Paine wanted to pursue the ideas of important figures that were fighting for independence. He attempted to persuade other Americans that were hesitant to join the dream for freedom. He wanted everyone to follow the new nation and its goal to institute a new superior government that will allow them to have more power in say in the
By 1765, at a Stamp Act Congress, all but four colonies were represented as the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” was passed. They were determined to let Parliament know that they were equal to British citizens, that there would be no “taxation without representation,” and all efforts to stop tax on colonists would continue (Kennedy, etal 2011.) Although Lord Rockingham, the predecessor of Grenville, sought to repeal of the Stamp Act, this in no way meant Parliament was conceding their control. In fact, while the Stamp Act was repealed, another called the “Declaratory Act of 1766,” gave Parliament the authority to make laws binding the American Colonies, “in all cases whatsoever.” In 1767, George III passed the Townshend Acts to collect tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and, tea. Recognizing that tea was a favorite among the Americans, it ensured greater revenue the British government. Again, the colonists’ rights for representation were ignored and they started to boycott British goods and ultimately, smuggle tea. When the Quartering Act was passed, which specified that colonists were to give room and board to British troops, tension began to rise. For two years, the colonists tolerated British troops on their soil and their dissatisfaction with the British Parliament and King George III became evident through many violent riots, abusiveness of tax collectors and destruction of property. According to Kennedy, etal (2011), Parliament, continually met with
The author would have to say that the statistics coupled with the creation of the United States Sentencing Committee reveal that judicial discretion was at a much higher level prior to 1984, and has been on a decline as legislature has begun to regulate the discretion in which judges having in regard to sentencing in criminal cases. “Anderson, Kling, and Smith (1999) investigated 77,201 criminal cases decided between
During the beginning of Colonial America, there were many people who migrated from Europe to settle the new founded American Continent. They traveled from Europe to escape the laws, taxes, demands, and nobility brought upon them at the hands of King George III and Parliament. They wanted to be free from the tyranny of King George III. When the colonist arrived on the American Continent they felt freedoms that they had never before felt. After, feeling the freedom of being on this newly found continent King George once again started putting his demands on the Colonist. Eventually, the colonist saw their rights being taken away by the acts that were passed, the taxes that were implemented, and the Proclamation of 1763. The Tyranny of King
Presidential power has increased immensely over recent years and little is being done in an attempt to restore the original intent of the Constitution. There are multiple factors that affect this, including the executive orders of presidents, the Constitution giving an unequal distribution of power between the executive and legislative branch, the failure to use checks and balances, and the ineffectiveness of Congress. With the lack of congressional involvement in legislative decisions, the president has the ability to take matters in their own hands.