Some People Hate The Word Amnesty

Amnesty has long been used in this country to heal
the wounds left by mainly war to reconcile those with
the government. The word has now popped up once
more now during the controversial immigration term-
oil and threatens to undo the policies of republicians
who want stronger sanctions against illegal immigrants.
What do you think of amnesty and the illegal immigra-
tion situation?


AMNESTY HAS become the political act that dare not speak its name. Nativists go wild when they hear the term. Mainstream immigrant advocates talk around it. Immigration-restriction fanatics have so poisoned and blurred the word's meaning that they see it lurking in any legislation that proposes anything less than jail time or mass deportations for illegal immigrants.But is the idea of amnesty really as outlandish and un-American as radio talk-show hosts and Republican politicians make it sound? Is it really antithetical to our sacred notion of rule of law? Well, yes and no.

It helps to look back at the word's origins. Although dictionaries differ slightly, Webster's New International defines it as "the act of an authority (such as a government) by which general pardon of an offense is granted, often before trial or conviction, especially to a large group of individuals." The term "amnesty" derives from the Greek amnestia, which means forgetfulness and forgiveness.

The fundamental question, then, is whether the government should ever circumvent the legal process and dispense forgiveness. Certainly, the Constitution allows the president the power to pardon all offenses except impeachment. A holdover from monarchical government, the presidential pardon has been controversial from the beginning of the republic, when some of the framers worried about its potential for abuse.

More than two centuries later, President Clinton's infamous last-minute pardon of Marc Rich, a fugitive commodities trader accused of tax evasion and of making illegal oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis, resurrected such concerns, particularly because Rich's ex-wife donated nearly half a million dollars to Clinton's presidential library fund.But not all pardons and amnesties in U.S. history have been so utterly devoid of social value. Whether you agreed with it or not, President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon did end our long, polarizing national Watergate nightmare. Historically, amnesties have served a similar purpose of social reconciliation.





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