IN ENTERING INTO PLEA AGREEMENTS, IS THE GOVERNMENT SUBJECT TO THE SECTION 201(c)(2)s PROHIBITION?
The Supreme Court has long recognized a canon of construction which provides that statutes which tend to restrain or diminish the powers, rights, or interests of the sovereign do not apply to the government or affect governmental rights unless the text expressly includes the government. See United States v. Herron 87 U.S. 251, 256 (1873); United States v. Nardone, 302 U.S. 379, 383, 58 S.Ct 275, 276 (1935). The Singleton court acknowledged this rule but determined that it only applied to two classes of statutes, and found that Section 201(c)(2) did not fit in either class. The “two classes” of cases which the Singleton court referred to were discussed (briefly) in U.S. v. Nardone, supra. The first class consists of statutes which, unless the government is exempted, would deprive the sovereign of a recognized or established prerogative title or interest. 58 S.Ct. at 277. The classic example of a statute within this first class is the exemption of the sovereign from statutes of limitatio
