NC H651

Pardons Governor William W. Holden from the judgment imposed by the North Carolina Senate on March 22, 1871, following his impeachment and removal from office.

Recognizes Holden's actions in dispatching state militia to Alamance and Caswell counties to combat Ku Klux Klan violence and his support for political equality for newly emancipated North Carolinians.

Asserts that the General Assembly possesses the inherent power to pardon impeachment judgments, as the Constitution does not delegate this pardon power to the Governor.

Notes that Holden was the first governor in the United States to be removed from office, and that the impeachment vote was along party lines.

Effective upon ratification by both the House of Representatives and Senate.