Reference no: EM133707901

Below is a response a student made about presidential pardon. What reply or feedback can you give to the student based on a discussion about presidential pardons?

I believe that the President should have the power to pardon. He has taken a vow to be for the people and has taken an oath to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. We the people chose to put him in that position, and we should have faith in the role of the President that he will honor that privilege and responsibility.

As far as the contemporary or pardons in recent years versus pardons from years ago, I think it's very interesting to see the difference in the numbers. Per the chart from our lecture on the "Pardon Me, Mr. President!", you can see that Franklin D. Roosevelt had the most overall number of executive clemency and it seems to slowly decrease over the years more with almost each president. However, President Obama had the largest number sense back when Truman was the President. I looked up President Obama and found lots of speeches and talk of Obama as to why he gave so much clemency. He said that he believes that America is a country of second chances. He has stated that the system is too hard on non-violent crimes and had stated that in many cases the punishment does not fit the crime. He also felt that our tax dollars are better spent on other things.

I'm in agreement on this belief of giving second chances and I love to see someone in power making this a thing! I used to work in apartments and had to turn away many prospective residents who made plenty of money and who had a stable job, but in years past they made a mistake and then it was to haunt them for years into the future. It was heartbreaking to watch this. So, when I was promoted at one company to being a property supervisor, I got permission from the owner of the property to become a "second chance" property. We would allow residents that had nonviolent felonies. Many times, they were the best residents and appreciated the second chance.

I think that too many times people get too big for their britches and think they are above others, especially when they forget what it's like to struggle. I don't think we need to let people run amuck. However, I do think that we all can do something in our power to help another American, even if it's a not presidential power.