Word: pardons
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...second half of the 19th century, judges in the U.S. sentenced most criminals to flat prison terms, and convicts were expected to serve them in full. But they seldom did; the penitentiaries, then as now, were always full, and Governors would sometimes pardon prisoners wholesale or delegate that authority to prison wardens, who often used their power randomly. Parole boards evolved in part to end this chaotic system, and to further the goals of progressive visionaries, who thought prisoners were victims of a "social sickness" and should be treated rather than punished. Individualized justice and rehabilitation were the watchwords...
...pardon me," Verba says, "I think I've said far too much already...
...pardon from the Pontiff, a lesson in forgiveness for a troubled world...
...year 1981 on the 13th of May made an attempt on my life. But Providence took things in its own hands, in what I would call an extraordinary way, so that today after two years I was able to meet my assailant and repeat to him the pardon I gave him immediately ... The Lord gave us the grace to meet as men and brothers, because all the events of our lives must confirm that God is our father and all of us are His children in Jesus Christ, and thus we are all brothers...
...thing for Ford, as a human being, to forgive Nixon, but another for Ford, as President of the U.S., to grant a pardon, thus short-circuiting the judicial process. Says Father Robert Friday, professor of religion and religious education at the Catholic University of America: "Forgiveness doesn't mean that you become some sort of a wimp and forgive without some kind of demand. We are responsible for what we have done." Jesuit Theologian Avery Dulles agrees: "For the ordering of society, there should still be justice. Restraint and punishment are necessary even for forgiveness...