[Avodah] Halakhos of a US Governor

[Micha Berger]

Governor Corzine signed two religious protection bills in the banquet
hall of the shul in which I davened Shacharis this morning. (The
curious can see <http://tinyurl.com/5mcqm9> from the NJ Jewish
Standard.) The mounting hullabaloo brought to mind the question...

When greeting the Queen of England, one does not say "shechalaq
mikevodo levasar vedam" besheim umalkhus because her majesty doesn't
make life-and-death decisions over her subjects.

Which is relevant -- life, or death?

A US governor has the authority to stay an execution (at least in
every state this comes up in a movie, it seems). But he does not have
the power to execute. Does this mean that Gov. Corzine would rank the
berakhah besheim umalkhus or not?

SheTir'u baTov!
-micha

CC: RRYE, rav of aforementioned shul.

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
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