No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Why pardon a coin?

Trump proves once again, democrats are like cats and he is holding a laser pointer. Trump pardoned Susan B Anthony. Three, two, one… liberals went wild. How dare he? The Susan B Anthony Museum and roadside petting zoo says they won’t accept it. Trump took just a moment to sign the paperwork, days and weeks of fun to follow! Here is the Power Line Blog report:

Power Line Blog comments on President Trump’s pardon of Susan B Anthony.

One commenter threw up this case cite that almost, but not quite, and ultimately fails to address the issue.

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/85821/united-states-v-wilson/

The US Supreme court ruled in U.S. VS Wilson, 32 US (7 Pet.) 150, 1833:

“A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered, and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him.”

George Wilson was convicted putting a mail carrier’s life in jeopardy during a robbery in Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to death. His partner in crime was hanged. Wilson was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson. Wilson refused to accept the pardon and was then hanged.

I suspect that most people have never heard of Susan B Anthony. If they had, it was probably in the context of an ill-fated coin. This from Wikipedia, the lazy man’s reference. The Susan B. Anthony dollar is a United States dollar coin minted from 1979 to 1981, when production was suspended due to poor public acceptance, and then again in 1999. It is possible that the more perceptive equated Anthony with the women’s rights movement. I suspect that only the most ardent followers knew of her arrest and conviction. Since Susan B Anthony has been dead since 1906. The pardon was purely symbolic and gave Ms. Anthony no advantage.

Okay, a pardon may have restored her voting rights. But as a dead democrat there is no reason to suppose that her conviction impeded her ability to vote a straight democrat ticket for over a hundred years.

The case cited above, makes it clear that Ms. Anthony could refuse the pardon. She is no longer around to object. A third party does not have the “standing” to object. In effect, the only thing that the curators of the Susan B Anthony Museum and roadside petting zoo have accomplished is screwed themselves out of a new exhibit. The pardon stands and liberals stoop to a new low.

There are a lot of things to dislike about the President. But as long as he continues to make liberals miserable, I’ll support him.