Amnesty

For the human rights organization, see Amnesty International.

For the 2011 Albanian film, see Amnesty (film).

Amnesty (from the Greek ἀμνηστία amnestia, oblivion) is defined as: "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of persons, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of persons who are subject to trial but have not yet been convicted" It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. The word has the same root as amnesia. Amnesty is more and more used to express 'freedom' and the time when prisoners can go free.

Amnesties, which in the United Kingdom may be granted by the crown or by an act of Parliament, were formerly usual on coronations and similar occasions, but are chiefly exercised towards associations of political criminals, and are sometimes granted absolutely, though more frequently there are certain specified exceptions. Thus, in the case of the earliest recorded amnesty, that of Thrasybulus at Athens, the thirty tyrants and a few others were expressly excluded from its operation; and the amnesty proclaimed on the restoration of Charles II of England did not extend to those who had taken part in the execution of his father. Other famous amnesties include: Napoleon's amnesty of March 13, 1815 from which thirteen eminent persons, including Talleyrand, were exempt; the Prussian amnesty of August 10, 1840; the general amnesty proclaimed by the emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in 1857; the general amnesty granted by President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, after the American Civil War (1861-April 9, 1865), in 1868, and the French amnesty of 1905. Amnesty in U.S. politics in 1872 meant restoring the right to vote and hold office to ex-Confederates, which was achieved by act of Congress. Those were true amnesties, pardoning past violations without changing the laws violated.

The last act of amnesty passed in Great Britain was that of 1747, which pardoned those who had taken part in the 1745 Jacobite Rising.

Purposes

An amnesty may be extended when the authority decides that bringing citizens into compliance with a law is more important than punishing them for past offenses. Amnesty after a war helps end a conflict. While laws against treason, sedition, etc. are retained to discourage future traitors during future conflicts, it makes sense to forgive past offenders, after the enemy no longer exists which had attracted their support but a significant number remains in flight from authorities. Amnesty is often used to get people to turn in contraband, as in the case of China's gun restrictions, or the Kansas City ban on pit bulls. Advantages of using amnesty may include avoiding expensive prosecutions (especially when massive numbers of violators are involved); prompting violators to come forward who might otherwise have eluded authorities; and promoting reconciliation between offenders and society. An example of the latter was the amnesty that was granted to conscientious objectors and draft dodgers in the wake of the Vietnam War in the 1970s, in an effort by President Carter to heal war wounds. (There was no longer a war to protest, and there was no longer a draft to dodge.)

An example of an argument made for amnesty for undocumented immigrants is that they would be allowed to qualify for higher paying jobs, scholarships, and other services. According to the Center for Study of Immigration Integration, if California alone were to adopt an amnesty program, they would benefit by $16 billion dollars (Pastor, 2010).

With amnesty, immigrants can seek out higher education. A RAND study found that, by the age of 30, a Mexican immigrant woman who becomes a legal resident can obtain a college degree. With a college degree she will pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in government expenses each year compared to a high-school dropout with similar characteristics. Workers who lacked a high-school diploma in 2006 earned an average of only $419 per week and had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent. In contrast, workers with a bachelor’s degree earned $962 per week and had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, while those with a doctorate earned $1,441 and had an unemployment rate of only 1.4 percent (Gonzales, 2010).

Changing a law is a better way to achieve whatever benefit an amnesty offers, if a nation determines that the law has made criminals of people who have done no harm, or deprived the nation of a benefit, and will in the future. Changing a law allows new conditions and requirements, offering more control over the results of any change, than amnesty.

Controversy

Amnesty can at times raise questions of justice. An example was the Ugandan government's offer not to prosecute alleged war criminal Joseph Kony, in hopes that further bloodshed would be avoided. David Smock noted, "The downside of it is the impunity that it implies; that people can commit atrocities and say that they will only stop if they are given amnesty..."

A controversial issue in the United States is whether illegal immigrants should be granted some form of amnesty. It is proposed that illegal immigrants be able to come forward and immediately receive probationary status. This is criticized as being a reward for breaking the law. California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said an amnesty program similar to the one the federal government undertook in the late 1980s would be ill-advised today. It just didn't work. "It backfired big-time. It sent the wrong message: You come here illegally, and then we go and give you amnesty. So then, the next million come and they say, 'Hey, we get amnesty, this is really terrific (Press, 2005).

Some allege that at the national level an amnesty program would cost $2.6 trillion (Rector, 2007). This would only include the costs for the first year. The Federal Government would need to hire additional workers to help register immigrants, increasing costs for labor and or facilities. It is also alleged that an amnesty program would draw far more immigrants into the U.S. to receive amnesty, so the costs would continue to increase.

Some allege that due to the large number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., the government had to hire outside contractors. This led to mass cases of fraudulent activity. Illegal immigrants were paying off workers to falsify information, grant amnesty for family and or friends, and providing other relevant services. In 1986 it was found that 2.6 million immigrants received amnesty fraudulently Because of the effects of the past amnesty policy, many fear that an attempt to implement another amnesty policy would be a failure. Opponents of an amnesty policy feel that a similar situation to that of 1986 would occur, with bribery and registering of unqualified immigrants.

Controversies also raise towards amnesties given to alleged perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international law (or crimes of the Jus Cogens which include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression). Courts have rejected amnesties for such crimes, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. But scholars have suggested that there should be room for amnesties which were imperative necessities to achieve peace and accompanied by effective Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

Related uses of the term

• The term amnesty is also any initiative where individuals are encouraged to turn over illicit items to the authorities, on the understanding that they will not be prosecuted for having been in possession of those items. A common use of such amnesties is to reduce the number of firearms or other weapons in circulation. Several public schools with a zero-tolerance policy on drugs or weapons have an "amnesty box" in which students may dispose of contraband objects brought to school without consequence.

• Amnesty was used in South Africa, during the 1990s, as part of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation)

• An amnesty law is any law that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for crimes committed.

• In the illegal immigration debate, allowing illegal immigrants to legally remain in the United States is often called amnesty. Some observers contend that the word amnesty is improperly applied here. One reason for this contention is that the proposals under consideration include financial penalties for illegal immigrants. Another reason is that the government's current practice is generally to deport but not to prosecute illegal immigrants and there is sometimes no legal adjudication of "guilt" to be forgiven.

• Many libraries have an amnesty week where people can return late library books and they will not be charged a fine for having them out.

• At the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy, any head of state visiting the academy may ask the Superintendent to grant amnesty to members of the Corps of Cadets with outstanding punishment tours, freeing the restricted cadets from further punishment tours. In the past this was for all offenses, but in recent times only cadets with minor offenses (company board) are eligible for amnesty, while cadets with major offenses (regimental or higher board) are ineligible.

Improper uses of the term

• Describing a change in a law which renders innocent actions which previously broke the law. For example, raising the road speed limit from 55 to 70 is not 'amnesty', even though those who have always driven at 65 may now do so innocently; this is simply changing the law, which is the job of lawmakers. Genuine amnesty is where a particular group of lawbreakers are pardoned for past violations which would otherwise be subject to prosecution.

• Describing as amnesty the imposition of lesser sentences or punishments that are not "more than pardon, inasmuch as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense".

• Often wrongly or purposely used by politicians and/or journalists to denote cases of pardon where offenses are not stricken from the record and individuals proclaimed innocent. Instead, those individuals receive some lesser reprimand or sentence in response to an admission of guilt. Otherwise defined as an act of leniency but not amnesty, per se.

See also

• Tax amnesty
• Amnesty Law