Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution give the President the authority “to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except for Cases of Impeachment”. The dictionary definition for a Reprieve is ‘a cancellation or postponement of a punishment’. The definition of a Pardon is ‘the action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offense’. Bill Clinton was criticized for quite a few of his 430 pardons, a third of which were issued on the last day of his Presidency. They included his brother Robert Clinton and his former advisor Marc Rich. A commutation is defined as ‘the conversion of a legal obligation or entitlement into another form, e.g. the replacement of an annuity or series of payments by a single payment’. Each President has only provided a small number of commutations.
The Founding Fathers provided for the Presidential authority to issue pardons, recognizing that some federal sentences would be excessive, if not simply unjustified, and that an objective and humane review and relief should be granted for the Chief Executive to exercise in appropriate instances. It was not provided to enable a President to excuse his friends, relatives or political associates from serving out wholly justified sentences. Nonetheless, Presidential pardons may have gotten out of hand. Here is a list of the Presidential pardons that have been issued in the past fifty years: Carter (534), Reagan (393), Bush 43 (75), Clinton (430), Bush 45 (240), Obama (212). During his four years as President, Donald Trump pardoned a total of 240 individuals, 150 of them on his last day in office.
Anyone can apply for a Presidential pardon – and there is a process for doing so. All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are normally directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice for investigation and review, but the president may bypass that office.
Virtually all Presidents have been criticized for some of the Pardons they have issued. Pursuant to Clinton’s egregious pardons of his brother and Marc Rich, Barak Obama pardoned Chelsea Manning and Oscar Lopez Rivera. But Donald Trump’s pardons have been excessive and notorious, pardoning those who have been his allies. He has pardoned Paul Manafort, Peter Novarro, Steve Bannon, and George Papadopoulos, all of whom committed felonies while on the government payroll during the Trump Administration. He has asserted that the President has the power to pardon himself – which logically means he can commit any act whatsoever and not be held accountable for it at any time thereafter.
Subscribe now to JS CONTENDS - PRE
Subscribers will receive all eighteen chapters of Ethical Religion and Christian Activism. It will be followed by The Ethical Case for Abortion, Environment Philosophy and The Ethics of Voting.