Commutation

The morning before he left for the West, President Harding considered the cases of 158 Federal prisoners and granted 44 commutations of sentence.

Among the cases (on which the President received reports from the Department of Justice) were those of 48 radicals convicted under wartime laws. The President commuted the sentences of 27 of these men, in 25 cases conditioned by good behavior, in two cases (of foreigners) conditioned by deportation. The President's action gives these men freedom but not citizenship.

Two protests at once went up from several organizations. The Joint Amnesty Committee and the General Defense Committee of the I. W. W. protested that all the wartime "political prisoners" should have been released. The President's reason in releasing the 27 was that they had committed crimes with their tongues only, whereas the other 21 had been convicted of criminal deeds. The Committee on Free Speech of the National Civic Federation and the American Civil Liberties Union also protested because the men released had not been pardoned unconditionally, but only on condition of good behavior and without restoration of citizenship. The war law prisoners had previously declared their intention of not accepting release unless it was given unconditionally.

The President's intentions in the cases of men released conditionally was indicated by the fact that when he commuted the terms of these men he also restored the civil rights of 27 former Federal prisoners released five or more years ago, who meanwhile had given evidence of good behavior.