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Posted by Randy Stone on March 12, 2023, 11:56:17, in reply to "Re: Not sure..."
Previous MessageStarting with Lincoln, and continuing with Johnson, there were a string of presidential pardons. All had conditions, and Maury was not then eligible based on these conditions. However, on Christmas Day, 1868, Johnson finally pardoned all former confederates unconditionally. Maury had lived abroad until this point, but came home after this. The last southern state readmitted to the Union was Georgia in July of 1870.
All Section 3 of the 14th Amendment did was prohibit former confederates from holding public office, unless Congress voted otherwise by a 2/3 majority. It "rehabilitated" no one.
'Rehabilitated' was deliberately placed in quotes for want of a better term. The question--and perhaps you have an answer for this--is whether a Presidential pardon for Maury overrode the requirements of Section 3, which forbids "any office, civil or military... unless Congress votes as you stated, a 2/3rds majority of each House.
As I've noted, Maury may well have jumped through all the required hoops...in which case, he's off the hook. My suspicion is that a constitutional amendment specifying Congress as the sole arbiter with regard to those engaged in insurrection or rebellion could not disallow a presidential pardon but would prevent Maury from ever holding those positions and offices specified in Section 3, absent that 2/3rds each house majority.
Maury's return to VMI after the war is an interesting choice of campus. And he appears to have continued with laudable academic and scientific efforts up to his death. Unfortunately, it also appears he made a big mistake which has come to taint his otherwise impressive credentials.
RS
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