Do we toss out Daisy Ames, mother of three, worked two jobs, had a boyfriend who stored a kilo in her closet? She's done eight years and is facing eleven more. That's longer than rapists and child molesters get. There's about fifteen Daisys in here -- do we pick three?
It's two weeks before the State of the Union and Toby has the speech locked -- until Congress tries to slip a mandatory minimums rider into a bill. Discussions on the rider combined with Abbey's comments sparks the President's interest in pardons for nonviolent drug offenders sentenced harshly. Donna draws the unenviable task of culling the pile of 35 pardonable prisoners down to an exemplar handful. Toby, who was in mall-related purgatory testing the State of the Union speech, is called back when Josh suggests that the President pardon all of the prisons -- except for an unlucky man whose parents used their contributor status to earn an invite to the White House. Meanwhile, Charlie's short-lived relationship with a bright young reporter crashes and burns when he learns she's joined the White House press corps.
Credits
Directed by CHRISTOPHER MISIANO
Starring:
STOCKARD CHANNING as First Lady Abigail Bartlet
DULÉ HILL as Charlie Young
ALLISON JANNEY as C.J. Cregg
JOSHUA MALINA as Will Bailey
JANEL MOLONEY as Donna Moss
RICHARD SCHIFF as Toby Ziegler
JOHN SPENCER as Leo McGarry
BRADLEY WHITFORD as Josh Lyman
and MARTIN SHEEN as President Josiah Bartlet
Guest Starring:
Related Links:
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee vs. No Parole Peltier Association
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Sandra Day O'Connor: The Importance of Judicial Independence
Dialogue Excerpts:
Joey: Mall tests are about tone, how the president should deliver the speech. We'll hire a spokesman.
Toby: An actor?
Joey: Not a known actor.
Toby: Oh, that's better.
Joey: Purchase intent can--
Toby: Purchase intent? What are we doing, selling cornflakes?
Charlie: I did have to cancel on a Sunday -- an attempted coup in Riyadh. Tonight, I thought I was home free with the president at the opera, but he bailed at intermission. And now you're here.
Angela: Don't cancel. Go late. A demanding job is a strong aphrodisiac.
Charlie: Are you the devil?
Josh: I said we wanted to take a look, and when I said we--
Donna: You meant me.
Josh: I'll help you...
Donna: Thanks.
Josh: Move them.
Donna: Right.
Josh: You need a space where you can spread out. We need to be familiar with the specifics of each of these petitions.
Donna: And when you say we...
Josh: That's the spirit.
Charlie: CJ, with the press -- could you ever trust a reporter?
CJ: Is this the beginning of a joke?
Leo: If it was you whispering pardons in his ear, it was the right thing.
Abbey: I don't whisper, Leo. That's not how it works between us. My job is to help Jed be as good a president as he is a man.
Bartlet: I can't dress for this thing without you. Which one screams "dominance"?
Abbey: Do I get to wear it afterwards?