{"id":1054974,"date":"2021-11-25T13:58:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T18:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1054974"},"modified":"2021-11-25T13:58:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T18:58:41","slug":"is-the-presidential-turkey-pardon-constitutional-legal-experts-and-peta-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/is-the-presidential-turkey-pardon-constitutional-legal-experts-and-peta-weigh-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Presidential Turkey Pardon Constitutional? Legal Experts And PETA Weigh In"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fis-the-presidential-turkey-pardon-constitutional-legal-experts-and-peta-weigh-in%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1054974&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Joe Biden\u2019s first pardons of his presidency \u2014 two turkeys named Peanut Butter and Jelly \u2014 have legal experts and animal rights activists asking questions about the constitutionality of the traditional presidential turkey pardon.<\/p>\n<p>While the ceremonious event has been an annual White House fixture for decades, legal scholars are concerned that the blanket presidential pardoning of turkeys may be outside the scope of the president\u2019s enumerated powers, posing possible constitutional violations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese laws are too enumerable and too incomprehensible that there is a possibility that somebody could make a plausible case that the presidential turkey pardon runs afoul of the law,\u201d said attorney Mike Chase, author of the popular Twitter account <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CrimeADay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@CrimeADay<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/browse\/essay\/artII_S2_C1_3_1_1\/\">Article II, Section 2, Clause 1<\/a> of the United States Constitution, the president \u201cshall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the issues with the presidential pardon is that there is actually never any kind of declaration about the scope of the pardon issued to the turkey. There can obviously be blanket pardons, but at the same time, I would think that it\u2019s unlikely that a turkey is committing a federal offense as a general matter. Given the relatively stationary life of a turkey, most are probably committing state crimes at best, and it would be outside the president\u2019s constitutional authority to be issuing a pardon for any kind of state conduct that a turkey was engaging in,\u201d Chase continued.<\/p>\n<p>Chase told the Daily Caller that, \u201cwhile there are no federal statutes to which I am aware of that refers to an offense committed by an animal, there are some statutes that don\u2019t specify who the doer of the crime is. So I don\u2019t think under criminal law there is capacity on behalf of a turkey, but there are certainly plenty of prohibitive acts that a turkey could engage in that would constitute a federal crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, obviously, we\u2019ve been talking about state lines a lot lately and crossing state lines, and one of my favorites is that it\u2019s a federal crime to bring an unshucked ear of corn across state lines out of New York. So if a turkey was in New York, I could definitely picture a turkey scooping up an unshucked ear of corn and walking across state lines,\u201d added Chase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, I would look to FAA regulations which create enumerable crimes for flight and flying in restricted airspace. Turkeys don\u2019t fly very well, but they may be able to fly a little bit, so maybe there\u2019s that. But there\u2019s all kinds of federal property they can trespass on, and while they\u2019re there, I know they\u2019re not super agreeable creatures, so they could definitely assault people on federal land too, which is just an additional federal crime,\u201d said the attorney.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7327193\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"37\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7327193\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turkeys, Peanut Butter and Jelly, wait for U.S. President Joe Biden during the 74th annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning in the Rose Garden of the White House on November 19, 2021. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although Chase was concerned that \u201cturkeys might be in a jurisprudential limbo because they may be capable of committing offenses against the United States, but they may not get the benefit of the bill of rights,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eighth Amendment<\/a> protects against \u201ccruel and unusual punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe good news for the turkeys is that because of both the ambiguity of the founders and our federal lawmakers, they may both be federal offenders and protected by Eighth Amendment guarantees. I would certainly say that the Eight Amendment restrains the federal government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment, whether a private party can impose cruel and unusual punishment on a turkey; I think our entire food industry allows that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a January 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peta.org\/blog\/pardoned-turkeys-gobblers-rest-virginia-tech\/\">expos\u00e9<\/a>, PETA obtained video evidence of the abysmal conditions at Virginia Tech\u2019s Gobbler\u2019s Rest, home to Peas, Carrots, Bread, and Butter, four turkeys pardoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019. A veterinarian who reviewed the footage told PETA that these conditions present \u201cnumerous, cumulative, and chronic stressors that severely compromise the physical and psychological well-being of these turkeys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA pardon is supposed to be complete,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.msu.edu\/faculty_staff\/profile.php?prof=44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Kalt<\/a>, Professor of Constitutional Law at Michigan State University, told the Daily Caller. \u201cSo if these pardoned turkeys are living in squalid conditions, then the question becomes, is this part of a criminal sentence? If so, then the pardon must not have been effective, or the pardon was ignored, which would be a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kalt told the Daily Caller that \u201cif the turkeys are living in squalid conditions and it doesn\u2019t have to do with any sort of criminal penalty, then I don\u2019t think the Eighth Amendment would apply. But you have other constitutional rights that require certain types of treatment such as due process claims, civil claims for false imprisonment, battery, but constitutionally, it doesn\u2019t really add up, especially if they had been pardoned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PETA spokesperson and campaign specialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peta.org\/action\/action-team\/meet-campaigners\/ashley-byrne\/\">Ashley Byrne<\/a> laughed when considering Eighth Amendment protection for turkeys, saying, \u201cif we\u2019re taking issue with the pardon, maybe we should be looking at the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the constitutionality of the presidential turkey pardon, Byrne told the Daily Caller that \u201cpresidential pardons are for those accused or convicted of federal crimes and so the mockery of pardoning turkeys who have done nothing wrong and who are then sent to live in a tiny barren enclosure is abusive and disrespectful to these sensitive, intelligent individuals who feel pain and love and fear just like people do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Byrne believes \u201cthe presidential turkey pardon is really a publicity stunt to promote the factory farming industry\u201d and is \u201creally something that should have gone a long time ago.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2018\/11\/19\/trump-set-to-pardon-turkeys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>(RELATED: OPINION: Annual Turkey Pardoning A White House Tradition)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7327198\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"36\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7327198\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7327198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"President-Donald-Trump-Turkey-Pardon-Thanksgiving\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-877085600-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7327198\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wishbone the turkey is put on display for members of the news media with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (L) in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House November 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe turkey pardon is promoting an industry that is absolutely not in keeping with American values. Americans pride themselves on respecting freedom, dignity, and moral and ethical behavior, and the factory farming industry just spits in the face of these values. I would certainly say that it\u2019s un-American,\u201d added the PETA representative.<\/p>\n<p>Chase was also skeptical of industrial agriculture organizations like the National Turkey Federation, finding it \u201cinteresting that the turkey lobby is the one that is providing a turkey that\u2019s ultimately getting pardoned, raising issues beyond just conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere may be questions whether or not the turkeys are in-kind campaign contributions because, although they\u2019re acting within their presidential capacity to issue pardons, we\u2019ve seen a lot of dialogue about this sort of quid-pro-quo for pardons and so if there is quid-pro-quo for turkey pardons, then I think that raises tricky issues,\u201d concluded Chase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s first pardons of his presidency \u2014 two turkeys named Peanut Butter and Jelly \u2014 have legal experts and animal rights activists asking questions about the constitutionality of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1054974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1054974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1054974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1054974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1054974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}