President Josiah Bartlet's agonized internal moral dilemma over whether to commute Simon Cruz's federal death sentence — weighing personal conscience, religious counsel and the moral value of mercy against constitutional precedent, political fallout, a...
President Josiah Bartlet's agonized internal moral dilemma over whether to commute Simon Cruz's federal death sentence — weighing personal conscience, religious counsel and the moral value of mercy against constitutional precedent, political fallout, and institutional consequences.
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 …
At the brink of a federal execution, President Bartlet summons his spiritual advisor and submits to a private reckoning. Father Cavanaugh's river parable reframes Bartlet's attempts to find a legal …