Pardon As State Power

Pardon as state power is the source’s interpretation of Shi Jianqiao / 施剑翘’s special pardon in 41.施剑翘复仇案：超越哈贝马斯的情与法. After courts imposed and upheld a sentence, the Nationalist Government / 国民政府 granted clemency and Shi served only about ten months, according to the episode.

The episode treats the pardon as double-edged. It could absorb public sympathy and present the state as humane, patriotic, and responsive. But it could also weaken the authority of courts by showing that final judgment belonged to the sovereign state rather than to ordinary legal procedure.

Key Claims

• Pardon power can convert public emotion into state legitimacy.
• Executive clemency can also mark the state as standing above law, especially when it reverses the practical force of a murder conviction.
• In this case, the pardon was tied to political networks, patriotic image, and public sympathy as much as to legal doctrine.
• The source presents the pardon as part of state-building, not only mercy.

Connections

• Shi Jianqiao Revenge Case - case where the pardon occurred.
• Nationalist Government / 国民政府, Feng Yuxiang / 冯玉祥, and Chiang Kai-shek / 蒋介石 - political actors and institution.
• Judicial Independence And Public Opinion - legal anxiety created by overriding courts.
• Private Revenge And Modern Law and Filial Revenge Public Sympathy - moral and legal background.