{"id":106,"date":"2014-11-03T20:45:43","date_gmt":"2014-11-03T20:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/?p=106"},"modified":"2015-08-18T19:25:10","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T19:25:10","slug":"nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/","title":{"rendered":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap, Constitutional Presidential Pardon Rights and Precedents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. It writes that the three remaining prisoners of the group known as the Cuban Five should be released in a swap for the American Alan Gross who is in a Cuban prison. For the swap to take place, according to the NYT, “President Obama would need to commute” the three Cubans’ sentences. This would be\u00a0similar in practical terms to presidential\u00a0pardon, according to the U.S. Constitution, as it would free the Cubans.\u00a0It is a significant step as far as the media in the U.S. is concerned. The full NYT Editorial Board opinion is here.<\/a><\/p>\n

For further information on presidential pardon\u00a0based on the U.S.\u00a0Constitution that President Obama has at his disposal as well as the precedents set by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jimmy Carter, see my letter to President Obama dated February 4, 2013, reproduced below:<\/p>\n

February 4, 2013<\/p>\n

President Barack Obama<\/p>\n

The White House<\/p>\n

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC\u00a0 20500<\/p>\n

Dear President Obama,<\/p>\n

I am writing today to request that you employ your constitutional presidential power to grant pardons to the Cuban Five and immediately send them back to their country and families. These prisoners are Gerardo Hern\u00e1ndez, Ram\u00f3n Laba\u00f1ino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonz\u00e1lez and Ren\u00e9 Gonz\u00e1lez.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

Article 2, Section II of the Constitution provides you with the \u201cPower to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.\u201d This article carries a humanitarian feature and exists in most countries of the world. One can say that it is virtually universal. Let us highlight a few positive examples that bring out the best of the American people. President Abraham Lincoln pardoned 264 of 303 members of the Dakota Indigenous people who defended themselves against settler expansion in the Sioux Uprising of 1862. More recently, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter in his first day of office granted unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the U.S. war against Vietnam by fleeing the country or by failing to register for military duty.<\/p>\n

There are also instances of leaders granting pardon in other countries. In 2010, Cuba released the prisoners tried and convicted of crimes against the security of the Cuban state. Many U.S. commentators suggested that this would result in \u201ca thaw\u201d in U.S.-Cuban relations. Despite this, there has been no gesture from you to date to pardon the five Cuban prisoners.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, in December 2011, the Cuban government announced through Ra\u00fal Castro that the Council of State, over which he presides, \u201chas agreed to pardon more than 2,900 prisoners. Not included in this pardon, with very few exceptions, are individuals convicted of crimes of espionage [and] terrorism.\u201d One may respond by claiming that Cuba did not pardon most individuals for \u201ccrimes of espionage\u201d and thus why should the U.S. free the Cuban Five? Yet, the U.S. government has never actually accused them of espionage, nor has it affirmed that real acts of espionage were carried out, as no classified document was confiscated from the Five. For this reason, they were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit murder, because actual espionage or murder could not be proven. In law, \u201cconspiracy\u201d facilitates a conviction compared to actual conspiracy; nonetheless, the sentences received were greatly disproportionate to any \u201cconspiracy\u201d conviction.<\/p>\n

The Cuban government, compared to the U.S. government, even further \u201cagreed to pardon\u201d among the more than 2,900 prisoners \u201ccertain individuals convicted of crimes against the security of the state, who have completed a large portion of their prison terms with good behavior.\u201d The Cuban Five, in contrast, were never convicted of crimes endangering the security of the state, as no proof could be found to this effect. The five Cuban prisoners are also known for their good behaviour in prison. Therefore, President Obama, I urge you to join the tradition of some of your own predecessors, such as Lincoln and Carter. This humanitarian policy is preferable to your most recent statement on this issue. On January 30, 2013 in an interview on Telemundo, you stated that \u201cin order for us to see an actual normalization of the relations between the United States and Cuba that we have to do something about all those political prisoners who are still there.\u201d Clarification would be in order regarding \u201cpolitical prisoners\u201d in Cuba; the facts suggest that the only \u201cpolitical prisoners\u201d left in Cuba are those in Guantanamo prison.<\/p>\n

In the U.S. Constitution\u2019s Article 2, Section II, the President is vested with the powers to grant pardon, with the exception of \u201cCases of Impeachment.\u201d Impeachment refers to people within the U.S. political system itself who have committed wrongdoings that merit accusations of impeachment. This is considered the worst offense and thus only those convicted of impeachment are exempt from any possible presidential pardon. Clearly, this \u201cimpeachment\u201d exception does not apply to these five prisoners. Once again, I request that you pardon them.<\/p>\n

Amendment 8 of the U.S. Constitution excludes the use of \u201ccruel and unusual punishment.\u201d In the case of Gerardo Hern\u00e1ndez, for example, he has been sentenced to two consecutive prison life terms plus fifteen years for crimes he maintains that he did not commit and that the government could not prove. While at the same time, during all this period for over fourteen years since his arrest, the State Department has denied an entry visa to his wife Adriana P\u00e9rez to visit him. Is this is not an example of \u201ccruel and unusual punishment\u201d? In a similar manner, Olga Salanueva, the wife of Ren\u00e9 Gonz\u00e1lez, another of the Cuban Five, has also been denied an entry visa to visit her husband in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I am asking you to enforce the relevant portions of the U.S. Constitution that can be characterized as being humanitarian. I implore you to sit down with the Cuban government and work out a humanitarian solution to this problem of prisoners so that the normalization of relations between the two countries can be established and flourish. A compassionate outlook is a hallmark of democracy. Cuba has already exhibited this twice in the case of prisoners. And let us not forget Alan Gross, held in a Cuban prison, who appears to have been abandoned by your government.<\/p>\n

It is time to turn the situation around. The decisions by Lincoln and Carter to pardon may not have been popular with everyone in the U.S. at the time, but these stands have gone down in history as being positive examples.<\/p>\n

Thank you in advance for considering my appeal.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Arnold August, Montreal<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Note that since the time of writing, Rene Gonz\u00e1lez and Fernando Gonz\u00e1lez have served their entire terms and have returned home, thus leaving three of the Cuban Five imprisoned at this time. The three remaining are: Gerardo Hern\u00e1ndez, Antonio Guerrero and Ram\u00f3n Laba\u00f1ino.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. It writes that the three remaining prisoners of the group known as the Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arnold August\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arnold August\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arnold August\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f\"},\"headline\":\"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap, Constitutional Presidential Pardon Rights and Precedents\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1177,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/\",\"name\":\"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f\"},\"description\":\"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap, Constitutional Presidential Pardon Rights and Precedents\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f\",\"name\":\"Arnold August\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Arnold August\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Arnold_August\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/democracycuba.com\\\/Blog\\\/author\\\/arnld1014\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US","description":"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US","og_description":"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.","og_url":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/","article_published_time":"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00","author":"Arnold August","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arnold August","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/"},"author":{"name":"Arnold August","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f"},"headline":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap, Constitutional Presidential Pardon Rights and Precedents","datePublished":"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/"},"wordCount":1177,"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/","url":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/","name":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap: Cuba and the US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-03T20:45:43+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-18T19:25:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f"},"description":"The New York Times editorialized on November 2, 2014 in favour of a prisoner swap with Cuba. Remaining 3 of Cuban Five for Alan Gross. A just position.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/nyt_editorial_cubanfive_alangross-swap\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The NYT-Supported Prisoner Swap, Constitutional Presidential Pardon Rights and Precedents"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0dbfd37e7267e77f93ec5b6ed1a80e0f","name":"Arnold August","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/L2TSG-S3MMWRD_AugustA_01-96x96.jpg","caption":"Arnold August"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/democracycuba.com","https:\/\/x.com\/Arnold_August"],"url":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/author\/arnld1014\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democracycuba.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}