Should A US President Be Able To Pardon/Commute? (impeachment, death, Clinton)
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And it's been abused since. Even Bill Clinton in his own words says he tarnished his legacy pardoning Marc rich. Also pardoned his brother and a host of others waiting until his last day of office.
No doubt there are other examples from other presidents over the past couple of centuries, as well.
That doesn't mean the practice should be abandoned.
The detterant value of the pardon power of the President is alone worth the price of admission, imo.
The President just recently used it to realease people jailed for life for dealing pot, as an example.
And if the Pres. didn't have that power I could see some states having half their population in jail.
And the other half getting the guard jobs.
The war on drugs has been a failure. President Obama recognizes that fact and has used the power to pardon to release some of these people after they have already served ten years or more of huge sentences that range from 30 years to life imprisonment.
The power of pardon can be misused, but is a critical part of our system. Let me give some examples of when it is proper to use it:
1. The President is dealing with the fact that three American agents are being held as spies in the country of Tazmaniastan. Tazmanistan indicates that it will release these agents if we will trade an agent who was spying on our country.
2. A man is in federal prison and new evidence, like DNA testing, surfaces indicating that the man didn't really commit the crime.
3. A federal inmate saves the life of a the prison warden or another official during a prison riot.
4. The President truly believes that a sentence for a particular offense is disproportionate given the amount of harm that was caused by the offender when compared to other inmates convicted of other crimes.
5. A man who has committed a crime has served a lengthy sentence and there is near absolute proof that the man has been rehabilitated. Perhaps, even his victim is calling for his release.
Now, there is an issue with abuses of the power of pardon. Actually, one of the most clear cut situations involving this occurred in the 1970's when Ray Blanton was Governor of Tennessee. Blanton was convicted of literally selling pardons to convicted criminals. There is an argument for taking the power of pardon away from a single person like a governor or the President and placing it in the hands of a board of pardons. That might be something to consider.
I remain unconvinced that Obama or Clinton actually abused this power.
No! Pardoning a turkey for thanksgiving yes! Dumbest thing this nation has allowed and a middle finger up to whoever came up with this idea. What was the point of this decision? At least dismiss the idea of friends and family being involved. How is it determined who individuals are? Is it done fairly?
I would like it if congress had the ability to override a pardon with a 2/3rd majority of both houses, this would give a little balances to it.
Clinton's pardon of Marc rich was disgustingly corrupt. and is one of the biggest reasons I do not trust Hillary, if they were willing to do something that corrupt right out in the open, then what do you think they would ( and did) behind closed doors.
bill
Yes, we need another "balance" for the balance? At some point it becomes ridiculous. So now we're going to call upon a "do nothing" congress to vote on dozens of pardons?
I'd say the "balance" is in the press - the press reports on it and it is tried in the court of public opinion. It couldn't be overturned but it's out in the light of day. This is not a country of direct governance where everyone gets a say in every decision - you're just not gonna like all the decisions or even most of them <shrug>
I've taken the total of all pardons, commutations and remissions issued by all U.S. presidents since Harry Truman, then divided that total by the number of months the president was in office (all raw numbers taken from NBP's link). In descending order of acts of clemency per month in office:
74.7 - Harry S Truman
15.5 - Lyndon B Johnson
13.9 - John F Kennedy
13.2 - Gerald Ford
12.9 - Richard Nixon
11.5 - Dwight D Eisenhower
11.1 - Jimmy Carter
4.13 - Bill Clinton
4.09 - Ronald Reagan
1.97 - George W Bush
1.54 - George HW Bush
0.78 - Barack Obama
Two things jump out at me:
(1) Ronald Reagan seems to have ushered in an era of a lowered number of acts of clemency.
(2) Barack Obama is by far the most stingy with his pardon pen.
Now to be be fair, President Obama is still in office, so his acts of clemency per month in office will most likely rise. To match Ronald Reagan's rate, which is when the era of diminished presidential clemency began, Barack Obama will need to perform roughly another 325 acts of clemency in the remaining year of his tenure.
I've taken the total of all pardons, commutations and remissions issued by all U.S. presidents since Harry Truman, then divided that total by the number of months the president was in office (all raw numbers taken from NBP's link). In descending order of acts of clemency per month in office:
74.7 - Harry S Truman
15.5 - Lyndon B Johnson
13.9 - John F Kennedy
13.2 - Gerald Ford
12.9 - Richard Nixon
11.5 - Dwight D Eisenhower
11.1 - Jimmy Carter
4.13 - Bill Clinton
4.09 - Ronald Reagan
1.97 - George W Bush
1.54 - George HW Bush
0.78 - Barack Obama
Two things jump out at me:
(1) Ronald Reagan seems to have ushered in an era of a lowered number of acts of clemency.
(2) Barack Obama is by far the most stingy with his pardon pen.
Now to be be fair, President Obama is still in office, so his acts of clemency per month in office will most likely rise. To match Ronald Reagan's rate, which is when the era of diminished presidential clemency began, Barack Obama will need to perform roughly another 325 acts of clemency in the remaining year of his tenure.
Clinton pardoned 140 on his last day in office. Considering that, any inclusion of Obama on the list is unfair.
I don't really have problem with issuing pardons to low level and non-violent offenders, but Clinton's pardons for the FALN terrorists set a dangerous precedent. I don't think violent felons and those convinced of national or internal security offenses should be eligible for a pardon.
I mean jeeze, the entire freaking US Senate ... every single sitting US Senator at the time ... voted to condemn the FALN pardons. If Bozo tried that today he would probably be impeached.
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At some point it becomes ridiculous. So now we're going to call upon a "do nothing" congress to vote on dozens of pardons? 
