Amnesty

For other uses, see Amnesty (disambiguation).

Amnesty (from the Greek ἀμνηστία amnestia, "forgetfulness") is defined as: "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted."[1] It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. Amnesty is more and more used to express "freedom" and the time when prisoners can go free.

Amnesties, which in the United Kingdom may be granted by the crown or by an act of Parliament, were formerly usual on coronations and similar occasions, but are chiefly exercised towards associations of political criminals, and are sometimes granted absolutely, though more frequently there are certain specified exceptions. Thus, in the case of the earliest recorded amnesty, that of Thrasybulus at Athens, the thirty tyrants and a few others were expressly excluded from its operation; and the amnesty proclaimed on the restoration of Charles II of England did not extend to those who had taken part in the execution of his father. Other famous amnesties include: Napoleon's amnesty of March 13, 1815 from which thirteen eminent persons, including Talleyrand, were exempt; the Prussian amnesty of August 10, 1840; the general amnesty proclaimed by the emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in 1857; the general amnesty granted by President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, after the American Civil War (1861-April 9, 1865), in 1868, and the French amnesty of 1905. Amnesty in U.S. politics in 1872 meant restoring the right to vote and hold office to ex-Confederates, which was achieved by act of Congress.[2] Those were true amnesties, pardoning past violations without changing the laws violated.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986—signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986—granted amnesty to about 3 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

On January 2, 2014, The New York Times called on the United States to grant amnesty to Edward Snowden, the fugitive who stole U.S. state secrets when working for an NSA contractor and released them to the world.[3]

Purposes

An amnesty may be extended when the authority decides that bringing citizens into compliance with a law is more important than punishing them for past offenses. Amnesty after a war helps end a conflict. While laws against treason, sedition, etc. are retained to discourage future traitors during future conflicts, it makes sense to forgive past offenders, after the enemy no longer exists which had attracted their support but a significant number remains in flight from authorities. Amnesty is often used to get people to turn in contraband, as in the case of China's gun restrictions,[4] or the Kansas City ban on pit bulls.[5] Advantages of using amnesty may include avoiding expensive prosecutions (especially when massive numbers of violators are involved); prompting violators to come forward who might otherwise have eluded authorities; and promoting reconciliation between offenders and society. An example of the latter was the amnesty that was granted to conscientious objectors and draft dodgers in the wake of the Vietnam War in the 1970s, in an effort by President Carter to heal war wounds.[6] (There was no longer a war to protest, and there was no longer a draft to dodge.)

An example of an argument made for amnesty for undocumented immigrants is that they would be allowed to qualify for higher paying jobs, scholarships, and other services. According to the Center for Study of Immigration Integration, if California alone were to adopt an amnesty program, they would benefit by $16 billion (Pastor, 2010).[7]

With amnesty, immigrants can seek out higher education. A RAND study found that, by the age of 30, a Mexican immigrant woman who becomes a legal resident can obtain a college degree. With a college degree she will pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in government expenses each year compared to a high-school dropout with similar characteristics. Workers who lacked a high-school diploma in 2006 earned an average of only $419 per week and had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent. In contrast, workers with a bachelor's degree earned $962 per week and had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, while those with a doctorate earned $1,441 and had an unemployment rate of only 1.4 percent (Gonzales, 2010).[8]

Changing a law is a better way to achieve whatever benefit an amnesty offers, if a nation determines that the law has made criminals of people who have done no harm, or deprived the nation of a benefit, and will in the future. Changing a law allows new conditions and requirements, offering more control over the results of any change, than amnesty.

Controversy

Amnesty can at times raise questions of justice. An example was the Ugandan government's offer not to prosecute alleged war criminal Joseph Kony, in hopes that further bloodshed would be avoided.[9] David Smock noted, "The downside of it is the impunity that it implies; that people can commit atrocities and say that they will only stop if they are given amnesty..."[10]

A controversial issue in the United States is whether illegal immigrants should be granted some form of amnesty. It is proposed that illegal immigrants be able to come forward and immediately receive probationary status.[11] This is criticized as being a reward for breaking the law.[12] California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said an amnesty program similar to the one the federal government undertook in the late 1980s would be ill-advised today. It just didn't work. "It backfired big-time. It sent the wrong message: You come here illegally, and then we go and give you amnesty. So then, the next million come and they say, 'Hey, we get amnesty, this is really terrific'."[13]

Some allege that at the national level an amnesty program would cost $2.6 trillion.[14] This would only include the costs for the first year. The Federal Government would need to hire additional workers to help register immigrants, increasing costs for labor and or facilities. It is also alleged that an amnesty program would draw far more immigrants into the U.S. to receive amnesty, so the costs would continue to increase.

Some allege that due to the large number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., the government had to hire outside contractors. This led to mass cases of fraudulent activity. Illegal immigrants were paying off workers to falsify information, grant amnesty for family and or friends, and providing other relevant services. In 1986 it was found that 2.6 million immigrants received amnesty fraudulently[15] Because of the effects of the past amnesty policy, many fear that an attempt to implement another amnesty policy would be a failure. Opponents of an amnesty policy feel that a similar situation to that of 1986 would occur, with bribery and registering of unqualified immigrants.

Controversies also raise towards amnesties given to alleged perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international law (or crimes of the Jus Cogens which include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression[16]). Courts have rejected amnesties for such crimes, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia[17] and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.[18] But scholars have suggested that there should be room for amnesties which were imperative necessities to achieve peace and accompanied by effective Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.[19] One particular case was in Uruguay: the controversial Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State pretended to put an end to unsolved issues deriving from 12 years of civic-military dictatorship; local human rights organizations challenged that law and called a referendum in 1989 which confirmed the law by 56% of the popular vote.[20]

Related uses of the term

References

  1. ↑ Bryan A. Gardner (ed.). 2009. Blacks Law Dictionary (9th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West, p99
  2. ↑ Robert W. Burg, "Amnesty, Civil Rights, and the Meaning of Liberal Republicanism, 1862-1872". American Nineteenth Century History 2003 4(3): 29-60.
  3. ↑ Kopan, Tal (2 January 2014). "New York Times calls for Edward Snowden clemency". Politico. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "China sets gun amnesty deadline". BBC News. July 5, 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Pit bull amnesty convinces some owners to abide by ban". LJWorld.com.
  6. ↑ Online NewsHour: Remembering Vietnam: Carter's Pardon
  7. ↑ Pastor, M. (2010, January 12). The Economic Benefits of Immigration Authorization In California. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from USC Center for Study of Immigrant Integration: http://csii.usc.edu/economic_benefits.html
  8. ↑ Gonzales, R. G. (2010). Getting A Return on Investment: The California DREAM Act. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from University of California, Berkeley Law School : http://www.law.berkeley.edu/3267.htm
  9. ↑ http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA471234&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
  10. ↑ John Pike. "Amnesty Offer for Ugandan Rebel Kony Raises Controversy".
  11. ↑ "Immigration Amnesty".
  12. ↑ "Amnesty for illegal aliens".
  13. ↑ Schwarzenegger, A. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2010, from Government Press: http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2007bills/SB%201%20Veto%20Message.pdf
  14. ↑ Rector, R. (2007, June 6). Amnesty Will Cost U.S. Taxpayers at Least $2.6 Trillion . Retrieved 11 November 2010, from The Heritage Foundation : http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2007/06/Amnesty-Will-Cost-US-Taxpayers-at-Least-26-Trillion
  15. ↑ Camarota, S. (2006, June). Amnesty Under 1986 Hagel Martinez. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from Center for Immigration Studies : http://www.cis.org/articles/2006/back606.html.
  16. ↑ M. Cherif Bassiouni. 1998. International Crimes: Jus Cogens and Obligatio Erga Omnes, Law & Contemporary Problems, 59: 63-74
  17. ↑ Prosecutor v. Furundžija, Trial Chamber Judgment. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 2002, 121 International Law Reports 213 (2002)
  18. ↑ Special Court for Sierra Leone: Prosecutor v. Kallon and Kamara, Appeals Chamber: Decision on Challenge to Jurisdiction: Lome Accord Amnesty
  19. ↑ Antonio Cassesse. 2003. International Criminal Law. New York: Oxford University Press, pp315-316
  20. ↑ Francisco Gallinal (28 February 2009). "La ley de caducidad" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  21. ↑ Amnesty By William Bourdon, Crimes of War Project, The Book
  22. ↑ Legalization or Amnesty? : Immigrants' Rights : AFSC Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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