''United States v. Wilson'', 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 150 (1833), was a case in the United States in which the defendant, George Wilson, was convicted of robbing the US Mail, and putting the life of the carrier in danger, in Pennsylvania and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

.Bohm, Robert M., ''DeathQuest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States'', p25 Due to his friends' influence, Wilson was pardoned by

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. The pardon included the following condition: Wilson, however, refused the pardon. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was thus asked to rule on the case. The decision was that if the prisoner does not accept the pardon, it is not in effect: "A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him." While Wilson refused the pardon, he avoided being hanged unlike his accomplice who was. A report in '' The National Gazette'' of Philadelphia dated January 14, 1841 suggests that he was in prison for ten years until released. He received another pardon from President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

, which he accepted. The ''Smithsonian'' magazine has written that Wilson was hanged as a result of refusing the pardon.

References

External links

* United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Marshall Court United States clemency case law Criminal cases in the Marshall Court Pardons 1833 in United States case law {{SCOTUS-case-stub