Pardon of James Medcalfe, 16 May 1804
Pardon of James Medcalfe
Washington, D.C., 16 May 1804. TJ issues a “full free and entire pardon” of James Medcalfe of Pennsylvania, mariner, who was convicted by a U.S. Circuit Court in Pennsylvania of a misdemeanor violation of an act of Congress entitled “An Act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States.” Medcalfe had been sentenced to three months imprisonment and fined $100, and was to stand committed until the fine and costs were paid.
FC (Lb in DNA: RG 59, GPR).
Medcalfe had been found guilty of violating the Neutrality Act of 1794 for illegally outfitting the brig Friends for British service against Holland and France. In addition to Medcalfe’s imprisonment and fine, the court ordered the vessel sold at public auction (Dwight F. Henderson, Congress, Courts, and Criminals: The Development of Federal Criminal Law, 1801-1829 [Westport, Conn., 1985], 55-6; , 1:381-4; Relfs Philadelphia Gazette, 19 Jan. 1804; , 6:338).