Administration institutional pragmatism (protecting the Presidency, precedent, and political survival) versus external moral-political pressure to save a life — public defenders, clergy and staff press for action while senior management resists institu...
Administration institutional pragmatism (protecting the Presidency, precedent, and political survival) versus external moral-political pressure to save a life — public defenders, clergy and staff press for action while senior management resists institutional exposure.
Events in This Arc
In the hushed Supreme Court chamber a Justice reads the opinion: the stay is denied, certiorari refused, and the petitioner is formally scheduled for execution at 12:01 a.m. Monday in …
In the Oval at night Bartlet wrestles with whether to commute a federal death sentence. Toby returns from his rabbi, describing how Jewish legal restrictions once made state execution effectively …
Outside the Oval, Sam makes the moral case while Charlie rattles off countries that still execute juveniles. Leo abruptly cuts Sam off, bars him from seeing the President and repeats …