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A pardon is legal believe it or not. It is a way of receiving forgiveness for a crime and for the penalty that usually comes with it. In most cases, the President of the United States or a state governor hands out pardons.

Try not to confuse pardons and clemency. Clemency only reduces the penalty for the crime committed, but does not forgive the crime itself. The other word used for clemency is reprieve. You may have heard of instances of this in the news and wondered about it.

Most often pardons are given to people who have been wrongly convicted. Interestingly enough, many of the people who are offered a pardon under those circumstances turn it down. This is largely due to the fact that accepting a pardon may be seen as an admission of guilt.

What an odd system of justice when those wrongly convicted of a crime must wait until their appeals process has run its course and hope to have their sentence overturned. A pardon would obviously be an easier way to clear their record, but what society perceives is more important to them.

Under the Constitution, the President has the right and the power to hand out pardons. The formal wording goes like this: “to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” On initial reading, this may seem fairly straightforward.

However it isn’t always as clear and to the point as a political figure may like. The US Supreme Court has actually interpreted the above powers to include granting pardons, amnesty, respites, remissions of fines and forfeitures, commutation of a sentence, conditional pardons and conditional commutation of a sentence.

Federal pardons are sent to the President and go through the Pardon Attorney’s Office prior to being vetted by the President. The President has the ability to grant the request or deny it.

Each state and the federal government have its own system to classify crimes according to their legal code. Although you would think this would cause mass confusion, most times the crimes are along very similar lines with similar definitions.

Felonies are the most serious offenses, often punishable with a prison term of over a year. In more serious felonies the penalty may be death. On the other hand, a misdemeanor means going to jail for less than a year because the nature of the crime is not as serious.

Once you get into the misdemeanors, you get further categories broken out based on the severity of the crime. For instance a Class A misdemeanor is the most serious, with a jail term not exceeding a year plus a fine (variable from state to state.)

If you’re up for a Class B misdemeanor, it is usually a jail sentence of less than 180 days. Class C misdemeanors only carry fines. Felonies on the other hand are much more serious and include capital felonies such as first-degree murder. In jurisdictions with the death penalty, capital felonies may have either the death penalty or life in prison.

Again once you’re into the serious felony charges you have degrees assigned to the crimes. For instance first-degree felonies usually come with prison terms with a range of no less than five years to life.

Your second-degree felonies have jail time of up to 20 years but not less than a deuce (2 years). Third-degree felonies come with prison sentences of no more than 10 years and a deuce less.

You may be wondering how the various crimes are distinguished and how they fit into one category or another. Generally speaking, the decision on how such and such a crime is pegged for classification is based on what the state law says about that crime, any prior offenses and either aggravating or mitigating factors.

While you may think that the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow and fine, overall the various classifications and penalties do suit the crimes. Rather like that saying referring to doing the crime and doing the time.

Once you learn how kit homes can be custom designed, it’s easy to see the flexibility and efficiency of the home construction is one of its main advantages. The placement of interior walls and windows makes it possible to create new rooms to fit your needs. And not only can the kit home be custom designed before installation, it can grow with your family over the years by adding additional wings and units as necessary. Because the kit homes are designed to be cost efficient, custom designing your home doesn’t cost an arm and a leg like a custom home built on slab with no pre-manufactured sections.

Optional Designs

One of the main advantages of kit homes is their adaptability for a reasonable cost. When you build a custom home that is not a kit home, the cost often becomes prohibitive. That’s because the floor plans are fixed as are the walls and such. Making changes requires extensive architectural and/or engineering redesign which is expensive.

Kit homes, on the other hand, have pre-manufactured wall sections which can be installed during installation to create the kind of liveable space you need. For example, you can move a wall section and create a larger dining area, living room, rumpus room or another bedroom. Windows can also be set in walls in a way that retains street appeal when creating customized rooms.

In the future, if you decide you need additional space, it’s easy to add another room or extension to the existing structure. Additions are seamless meaning your home will retain its beauty and symmetry.

Guests Welcome

The kit homes make great family homes. You can have your home custom designed so that the rooms are designed in a way that fit your needs. This may mean one home has an oversized living room while in another home the master bedroom is enlarged. In still other homes the kitchen floor space may be expanded while the dining room is decreased in size.

The kit homes are used for a number of living styles too. No matter where your property is located, the kit home makes an ideal home. You can custom design your kit home so you are able to take advantage of beach views for coastal living or create a simple floor plan for a vacation home.

If you like to entertain guests or enjoy summer cook-outs, you have a choice of optional decks and verandahs.

On the other hand, if you are disabled and need plenty of room for a wheelchair or other physical assistance equipment, the open floor plans make ideal conditions for easy living. The open floor plan is also popular with people who simply like the airy feel of large rooms.

Kit homes can be custom designed to fit any lot, property or neighbourhood block.

Just the Way You Like It

There are dozens of ways kit homes can be custom designed. The economical and flexible construction design means you are able to fit your kit home to your needs. You begin with a basic floor plan design and then work with the company to make any changes you desire. There is a large number of plans to select from which means the hard part is deciding which design to begin with because they are all so practical.