Schick v. Reed 419 U.S. 256 (1974)

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SCHICK v. REED 419 U.S. 256 (1974)

In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the President's right to grant conditional clemency. Maurice Schick, convicted of murder in 1954 by a court-martial, was sentenced to death. In 1960, under Article II, section 2, clause 1, of the Constitution, President dwight d. eisenhower commuted the sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Citing furman v. georgia (1972), Schick asked the Court to hold the no-parole condition unconstitutional. But the court held that the pardoning power flows from the Constitution alone and may not be limited except by the Constitution itself.

Dennis J. Mahoney
(1986)

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