Schick v. Reed
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Syllabus
The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. It is shown as printed in the United States Reports, read from the text layer of the Library of Congress scan (optical character recognition in older volumes, not yet checked word by word against the page).
Petitioner, sentenced to death, under Art. 118 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by a court-martial for murder, attacked the validity of a Presidential commutation to life imprisonment (under which petitioner had served 20 years) conditioned on petitioner's never being paroled. The District Court granted respondents' motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed, additionally rejecting petitioner's contention that this Court's intervening decision in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U. S. 238, required that petitioner be resentenced to a life term with the possibility of parole, the alternative punishment for murder under Art. 118. Held: The conditional commutation of petitioner's death sentence was within the President's powers under Art. II, § 2, cl. 1, of the Constitution to "grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States." Pp. 260-268.
Printed on p. 256 of the United States Reports, read from the text layer of the Library of Congress scan. View the page image
(a) The executive pardoning power under the Constitution, which has consistently adhered to the English common-law practice, historically included the power to commute sentences on conditions not specifically authorized by statute. United States v. Wilson, 7 Pet. 150; Ex parte Wells, 18 How. 307. Pp. 260-266.
Printed on p. 256 of the United States Reports, read from the text layer of the Library of Congress scan. View the page image
(b) Since the pardoning power derives from the Constitution alone, it cannot be modified, abridged, or diminished by any statute, including Art. 118, and Furman v. Georgia, supra, did not affect the conditional commutation of petitioner's sentence. Pp. 266-268.
Printed on p. 256 of the United States Reports, read from the text layer of the Library of Congress scan. View the page image
157 U. S. App. D. C. 263; 483 F. 2d 1266, affirmed.
Printed on p. 256 of the United States Reports, read from the text layer of the Library of Congress scan. View the page image
Provisions
The Constitution Annotated's essays on these provisions cite this case.
- Article II, Section 2, Clause 1suggested link
Source: Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (2022 ed.), essays ArtII.S2.C1.2, ArtII.S2.C1.3, ArtII.S2.C1.3.1, ArtII.S2.C1.3.2, ArtII.S2.C1.3.4.1, ArtII.S2.C1.3.4.2, ArtII.S2.C1.3.4.3, ArtII.S2.C1.3.5, ArtII.S2.C1.3.8, pp. 688, 689, 690, 691, 694, 696, 701.
Why it is here
The library's first set of cases is chosen by fixed rules from the Constitution Annotated (2022), which cites this case as “Schick v. Reed, 419 U.S. 256 (1974)”:
- most cited in essay topic ArtII.S2.C1.3 (7 pages)