AUSTIN — Citing the supremacy of the rule of law in the state of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry today refused to pardon Tom, a two-year-old broad-breasted white turkey cock, as part of a longstanding Thanksgiving holiday tradition.
"Ours is a society of laws," Perry said, "and it is only at our peril that we as a society show unwarranted mercy toward those lawbreakers who break the law and who have been found guilty by a jury of their peers in a court of law."
Tom was sentenced to die after a Texas jury found him guilty of strutting while intoxicated, aides to the Governor told reporters. A last-minute appeal was denied, leading to the eleventh-hour request for the Governor's clemency.
In another break with Thanksgiving tradition, Perry personally executed the turkey in question.
Other Republican governors in recent years have maintained slightly different positions regarding turkey pardons.
"Ours is a society of laws," Perry said, "and it is only at our peril that we as a society show unwarranted mercy toward those lawbreakers who break the law and who have been found guilty by a jury of their peers in a court of law."
Tom was sentenced to die after a Texas jury found him guilty of strutting while intoxicated, aides to the Governor told reporters. A last-minute appeal was denied, leading to the eleventh-hour request for the Governor's clemency.
In another break with Thanksgiving tradition, Perry personally executed the turkey in question.
Other Republican governors in recent years have maintained slightly different positions regarding turkey pardons.
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