Pardon Me

As granted by the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1), Presidents have the power to grant clemency in one or more of the following ways: the ability to grant a full pardon, to commute a sentence, or to rescind a fine. Pardon is the postponement of punishment, often with a view to a pardon or other review of the sentence. Our first president, George Washington used his presidential forgiveness to issue the first pardon to the Whiskey Rebels in 1795. A President has also pardoned a President.

In 1858, President James Buchanan pardoned Brigham Young as part of a peace compromise with the federal government. In the Utah War, Young’s followers participated in a year-long standoff with the U.S. Army. The affair was highlighted by a September 1857 incident in which a group of Mormons killed over 100 civilian members of a California-bound wagon train.

On November 25, 1862, Union General Fitz John Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, George McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of General Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863. In 1878, a special commission under General John M. Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack General Longstreet probably saved Pope's Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur commuted his sentence and restored him to the military, and President Grover Cleveland later followed up with a full pardon. Fitz' brother, David Dixon Porter spent 62 years in the United States Navy.

On May 26, 1874, John Wesley Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin’s record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. Hardin had killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868.

Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin was pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.

Ernest Cary Brace was the longest-held civilian prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War. A decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot and mustang, Brace was court-martialed in 1961 for attempting to fake his own death. He flew as a civilian contract pilot before being captured in Laos in 1965 while flying supplies for USAID. He spent almost eight years as a POW and upon his release received a Presidential Pardon in light of his good conduct. Brace, captured as a civilian, was nominated for the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart by Admiral James Stockdale. Because Department of Defense regulations prohibit civilians from receiving military awards, the nominations were denied four times. With the help of fellow former POW John McCain, the medals were finally awarded in 2011.

President Richard Nixon pardoned Teamsters' boss, Jimmy Hoffa and boxing promoter, Don King. In his last official act in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned Peter Yarrow(Peter, Paul and Mary). In 1970 Yarrow was convicted of, and served three months in prison for, taking "improper liberties" with a 14-year-old girl who went with her 17-year-old sister to Yarrow's hotel room seeking an autograph.

New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner was pardoned in 1989 by President Ronald Reagan. The pardon was granted after Steinbrenner admitted to criminal counts for obstruction of justice and conspiring to make illegal contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.

Patti Hearst had her seven year prison sentence commuted to 22 months in 1977 by President Carter. A full pardon was granted by President Bill Clinton in 2001. The list of pardons is very long and almost all United States Presidents have participated in the process. January 20, 2017 will most likely be the next date for presidential pardons. I hope the 44th President will include United States Navy Captain Charles B. McVay on his short list.

The July 30, 1945 sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by the Imperial Japanese submarine 1-58 has been called the last, great naval tragedy of World War II. It is the stuff of legend: after delivering the atomic bombs to Tinian, the Indy was torpedoed, sinking in 12 minutes. At least 800 crew members survived the sinking and went into the water. On their rescue after five days, only 320 still were alive.

The Indy’s survivors fought sharks, deprivation, and the elements, and now they fight to get their captain exonerated. Their commanding officer, Captain Charles B. McVay III, is the only captain ever to be court-martialed for having his ship sunk out from under him during time of war.

The recommendation was that Captain McVay be court-martialed for hazarding his vessel by failure to zigzag, but Admiral Chester Nimitz disagreed and instead issued the captain a letter of reprimand. Admiral Ernest King later overturned Nimitz’s decision and recommended a court-martial, which Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal later convened.

The real issue was that Admiral King wanted to make a name for himself and be in line for a promotion to five star Admiral. His squabbles with Captain Mcvay stemmed from an incident at the Naval Academy. The lesson here is that a decision on the court-martial can be legally correct and still be unjust. McVay's conviction rendered him legally culpable for the deaths of his shipmates. Captain Charles McVay committed suicide in 1966.

General Dwight Eisenhower called Admiral King "a lightweight." He believied that King's actions placed the blame on one sailor, exonerated the Navy for any possible discrepancies in not knowing the whereabouts of all their vessels, and weasled a fat promotion to Fleet Admiral.

One of Captain McVay's defenders was Mochitsura Hashimoto, commander of the Japanese submarine that attacked the Indianapolis. He testified at the court-martial that the torpedoes would have found their mark even if the Indianapolis had been zigzagging. 'Our peoples have forgiven each other for that terrible war,'' he said. ''Perhaps it is time your peoples forgave Captain McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction.''

Paul Murphy

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