According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a pardon is an expression of the president’s forgiveness and ordinarily is granted in recognition of the applicant’s acceptance of responsibility for the crime and established good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or completion of sentence. It does not signify innocence.

This should be troubling to Americans, because the White House states that the act of pardoning turkeys dates back to 1863, the first year that Thanksgiving was celebrated as a national holiday.

According to the story, the Lincolns received a live turkey for their Christmas dinner. Lincoln’s son, Tad, adopted the turkey and named it Jack. Although the president informed Tad on Christmas Eve that the turkey was to become tomorrow’s supper, Tad adamantly defended the right of the bird to live. Lincoln pardoned the turkey.

The troubling aspect of this tale, is that if the Department of Justice is to be taken in account, Tad Lincoln’s turkey does not appear to have ever been charged with a crime, let alone convicted, and therefore, could not be pardoned.

The U.S. Constitution, Presidential Pardons, Article II, states that the president can only pardon crimes committed under federal law.

Findlaw.com states that there is an official process for applying for a presidential pardon for federal crimes. One must submit an application to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. There is a five-year waiting period after being released from confinement. A pardon is not a determination of innocence. Rather, it is granted in circumstances where the applicant has accepted responsibility for the crime and established good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or release from confinement. The final determination of a pardon is made by the president.

In the case of Jack Lincoln, the turkey, there is no record that the bird ever submitted an application for pardon to the DOJ. In the event that he had, the five-year waiting period would have far exceeded Jack’s lifespan. Under ideal conditions in the wild, a turkey’s life expectancy is 3 to 4 years. Nobody really knows the lifespan of a farm-raised turkey, because most of them are killed between five and six months. Pet turkeys, however, like Jack, it is said, can live up to 10 years. It is not known with certainty how old Jack was when he was pardoned.

While it is firmly established that the president possesses pardoning power under the Constitution, and there are firm guidelines surrounding the act of pardoning, findlaw.com points out that the full extent of the pardon power has not been tested in the courts. The pardoning power extends to commuting sentences, and embraces all offenses against the United States. In the case of Jack Lincoln, not only is there no evidence that he applied for a presidential pardon, there is no evidence that he ever committed a crime against the United States. It may be that the courts simply never contested Lincoln’s pardoning the bird.

While the turkey has always enjoyed an elevated status among birds, some like Benjamin Franklin, felt a particular admiration for turkeys, holding them in higher esteem than eagles. The story that he advocated for the turkey to be adopted as the national bird, is a myth, says the Franklin Institute. But he nevertheless held the turkey in very high regard.

In a letter to his daughter, says the Institute, Franklin criticized the original eagle design for the Great Seal, saying that it looked more like a turkey. In the letter, Franklin wrote that the “Bald Eagle … is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly … [he] is too lazy to fish for himself.” He went on to write that in comparison to the bald eagle, the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America … He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.”

If Franklin’s opinion can be taken as character witness in Jack Lincoln’s case, it would be beneath the dignity of the bird to stoop to committing a federal crime. There may be an additional constitutional consideration to the case of Jack Lincoln, however: General amnesties.

George Washington issued them in 1795, findlaw.com states, Adams did, too, in 1800; Madison in 1815, and Lincoln did in 1863 — Lincoln issued general amnesties in 1863, the same year the White House asserts that Lincoln pardoned the turkey in question.

USLegal.com claims that while amnesty may be not be extended to single individuals, it is usually provided for political crimes during a period of insurrection or revolt to subjects concerned in an insurrection, which was occurring at the time Jack Lincoln was granted his reprieve. It is probable that if the courts did not challenge the pardon of the bird, they did not challenge an amnesty issue, either.

History does keep a secret of who gave the Lincolns the turkey. But that Jack was living when Tad adopted him, considering the lifespan of the turkey, Jack had not yet reached the age of being arrested for a federal crime. There is also no evidence that Jack was convicted of one, so it remains a mystery if the bird was actually pardoned of a crime he did not commit.

What is more likely, given what scanty evidence there is, is that Jack received a general amnesty, which is often granted before any trial or conviction. As Jack was never convicted, nor tried, it is probable that he had political opinions that were subversive to the Union during the insurrection, but had shown good behavior while in Tad’s custody, and therefore was worthy of amnesty.

From those of us at the Daily Mining Gazette, we wish you all a happy and joyous Thanksgiving.