Click on cartoon for larger image.What a strange little phrase with a host of meanings. "I beg your pardon?," meaning I didn't catch what you said. "I beg your pardon!" meaning how dare you say that. Or the truly contrite, almost desperate words of apology: "I beg your pardon."
This week we have been hearing a lively and sometimes heated discussion of pardons in our criminal justice system. Disgraced hockey coach and convicted sexual abuser, Graham James, received a pardon and both the public and the Prime Minister were disgusted. Me too, but I realize that this pardon is extended to virtually anyone convicted of a crime in this country who has served his or her sentence. The only exceptions are those who have committed murder. Those pardoned are still convicted criminals. The pardon makes it more straightforward for an individual to search for work or travel out of the country.
I suppose it is the optics of a pardon that angers us, yet none of these persons has got off "Scot free" as the expression goes. As someone who has worked as a chaplain in a federal prison I realize the importance of the possibility of a new life for those who have committed crimes and paid their debt to society.
And wasn't this past weekend about forgiveness of sins and abundant and eternal life? I may not like Graham James, or what he has done, but he too needs the opportunity to start over. Tough one.
Thoughts?
4 comments:
Tough one, indeed.
I agree with your suggested deployment of the pardon as a means to move people forward, but I have an awfully hard time considering for someone as predatory and cowardly as Mr. James.
I think it was a real eye-opener for many when it was revealed how many people request and get a pardon each year.
I understand that people have served jail time or conditional sentences, etc, and that a pardon allows them to carry on in life, but for offences of violence - such as those perpetrated by Graham James - I have a tough time with it. I don't imagine their victims would be very happy about it, nor would their famililies.
Thanks guys, and it is interesting that two men responded to this blog.
I have mentioned before that child molestation has been described as "soul murder" because of the profound impact on the victim. Perhaps this crime should be in the same category as murder.
If not in the same category as murder, then a very close second. When a child is preyed upon in this way, it does effectively end the child's life as s/he knows it. This baggage that comes with being a child betrayed in this way is heavy and can affect future careers, relationships, and self-care.
Yes, I think pardons are a good idea in some cases, but I wonder about the victims of these crimes and whether they are considered when judgments are handed down.
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