On Ryan and the System that Failed
Radley Balko of The Agitator bashes Jonah Goldberg and sticks up for Governor Ryan's decision:
Isn't the whole philosophy behind the power to pardon that the executive ought to be able to grant mercy/clemency/leniency when justice hasn't been served? If the system had failed one obviously innocent man, I'm sure few would argue with Gov. Ryan's decision to pardon him. Same with two, or three. But this is a system that has consistently failed, at least a dozen times, probably many more. Gov. Ryan came to the conclusion that the system was so flawed, in fact, that it couldn't be trusted to administer proper justice to anyone who'd been through it, provided the punishment the faced was death. He pardoned people he felt hadn't had a fair crack at due process. Why is that inconsistent with separation of powers?
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