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congress cant restrict the presidents pardon powers without a constitutional amendment. the president, and the states governors, can pardon anyone they wish in their respective prison systems. but these pardons are not done in a vacuum. there are a lot of steps that have to happen before they can exercise their pardon powers.
Normally the president gets recommendations from the DOJ, that has been bypassed this time. I don't see any reason to pardon Rod Blagojevich or Martha Stewart, is Stewart suffering a hardship since why already served her time. Rod Blagojevich shouldn't be pardoned anymore than the other 3 Illinois Governors.
I dislike the presidential pardon system intensely its a throw back to the thumps up or down in Roman times. If they are going to keep this power then middle class citizens should also have access along with high profile politicians and the wealthy.
Normally the president gets recommendations from the DOJ, that has been bypassed this time. I don't see any reason to pardon Rod Blagojevich or Martha Stewart, is Stewart suffering a hardship since why already served her time. Rod Blagojevich shouldn't be pardoned anymore than the other 3 Illinois Governors.
I dislike the presidential pardon system intensely its a throw back to the thumps up or down in Roman times. If they are going to keep this power then middle class citizens should also have access along with high profile politicians and the wealthy.
as far as i know blagojevich is not getting a pardon, but rather a commutation of his sentence. and while you may not like the pardon system, like it or not we have it. you can always work to abolish it though, but as always i suggest you be careful what you ask for as you may just get it.
but as i noted, governors also have pardon powers, are you ok with that? if you are then why are you not ok with the president being able to pardon people? and it isnt just about roman times either, the leaders of countries around the world have pretty much always had the power of the pardon, goes with the office.
Honestly, as far as I know I don't have any mystical powers, so I am unable to predict who our current president may or may not pardon. What I do know is our former president, Barack Obama, pardoned 212 people and commuted 1700 plus sentences during his 8 years in office. And our current president, who is coming up on 2 years in office, has pardoned 5 people and commuted one person's sentence. So it seems to me that if he plans to maximize his pardon power, he better get started now because he has a long way to go to get anywhere near our former president's display of dictatorial power.
Here are Obama's noteworthy pardons/commutations!
James Cartwright, pleaded guilty to giving false statements to federal investigators and was awaiting sentencing. Pardoned on January 17, 2017.[32]
Dwight J. Loving, sentenced to death for killing two taxi drivers. Commuted to life without parole on January 17, 2017.[33]
Chelsea Manning, sentenced to 35 years in prison for providing classified documents to WikiLeaks. Commuted on January 17, 2017.[34]
Willie McCovey, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1995 and received two years probation and a $5,000 fine. Pardoned on January 17, 2017.[35]
Ian Schrager, pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1979 and received three and a half years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Pardoned on January 17, 2017.[36]
Oscar López Rivera, sentenced to 55 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms, and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy government property, and subsequently to an additional 15 years for attempted escape. Commuted on January 17, 2017.[37]
Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, was convicted of contempt of court and was awaiting sentencing. Pardoned on August 25, 2017.[38]
Sholom Rubashkin, sentenced to 27 years in prison for bank fraud. Commuted on December 20, 2017.[39]
Kristian Saucier, convicted of unauthorized possession and retention of national defense information. Pardoned on March 9, 2018.[40]
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the CIA leak scandal. Pardoned on April 13, 2018, following an earlier commutation by President George W. Bush in July 2007.[29][41][42]
Jack Johnson, was convicted in 1913 for traveling with his white girlfriend by an all-white jury for violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for "immoral" purposes. Posthumously pardoned on May 24, 2018.[43][44][45][46]
Dinesh D'Souza, convicted of campaign finance violations. Pardoned on May 31, 2018.
Of course Trump doesn't take the time to identify unique sentencing situations as was identified in previous presidential pardons. Of course Trump doesn't have them reviewed judicially as previous presidents have. Trump goes it alone - choosing to pardon a birther, symbol of the CIA leak scandal and a high profile right wing activist. And they all done for political purposes, whether to purposeful enrage half the country, thus thrilling his base, or to make a veiled promise to those he fears will testify against him.
"In all three of these cases, Trump chose not to consult with the Justice Department's Office of Pardon Authority -- making the call on his own."
Normally the president gets recommendations from the DOJ, that has been bypassed this time. I don't see any reason to pardon Rod Blagojevich or Martha Stewart, is Stewart suffering a hardship since why already served her time. Rod Blagojevich shouldn't be pardoned anymore than the other 3 Illinois Governors.
I dislike the presidential pardon system intensely its a throw back to the thumps up or down in Roman times. If they are going to keep this power then middle class citizens should also have access along with high profile politicians and the wealthy.
Rod Blagovevich was investigated by Mueller. This is nothing more that childish trolling. Blagojevich was RECORDED trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. Trump is making a complete mockery of presidential pardons and the GOP knows it, they just don't want to say a single word that would endanger their one party power.
It would appear that Trump is doing such an unexpectedly good job that now we have to make up predictions of his future actions in order to attack him.
It would appear that Trump is doing such an unexpectedly good job that now we have to make up predictions of his future actions in order to attack him.
Several posters have referenced his current pardons as being pretty indefensible. And why.
Some of his pardons are pretty representative of why we have a presidential pardon. But some are just purely abusive of the authority. And given how he is acting its a reasonable concern that he thinks of it as a giant get out of jail free card. Its why more of the people who are facing federal charges need to have state charges added on.
Normally the president gets recommendations from the DOJ, that has been bypassed this time. I don't see any reason to pardon Rod Blagojevich or Martha Stewart, is Stewart suffering a hardship since why already served her time. Rod Blagojevich shouldn't be pardoned anymore than the other 3 Illinois Governors.
I dislike the presidential pardon system intensely its a throw back to the thumps up or down in Roman times. If they are going to keep this power then middle class citizens should also have access along with high profile politicians and the wealthy.
What a sad commentary...a sad reality that the bolded can even be an issue.
Trump will pardon every single one of the guys implicated in the Mueller investigation.
Trump will pardon pseudo celebrities that may have been on The Apprentice or Apprentice-type shows.
Trump will pardon anyone he thinks will enrage Democrats in order to troll them.
Trump will maximize his pardoning power because it's one of the few powers that feels dictatorial.
The GOP Congress will rush to defend every single one of Trump's actions because to not do so will weaken their positions in Congress.
The GOP does not care what Trump does right now, as long as they have the single party power they have today.
The GOP will later campaign on and vote to change presidential pardons so a future Democrat cannot do what Trump is doing now.
Interesting theories. None of them would surprise me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Doll
I don’t disagree with you.
Frankly, I think Trump is doing this to send a message to witnesses and those indicted under the Russia investigation. *Wink wink* Keep quiet, and I’ve got you.*Wink wink*
He’s so smarmy.
If I were one of those 'witnesses' ~ I sure as hell wouldn't put my future in Trump's hands. He'll throw any one of them under the bus in a hot minute if it serves him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seacove
Rod Blagovevich was investigated by Mueller. This is nothing more that childish trolling. Blagojevich was RECORDED trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. Trump is making a complete mockery of presidential pardons and the GOP knows it, they just don't want to say a single word that would endanger their one party power.
It was indefensible then and I can't imagine why Trump and his supporters would be defending it now.
It would appear that Trump is doing such an unexpectedly good job that now we have to make up predictions of his future actions in order to attack him.
I predict he'll release 5 terrorist from Gitmo for some low ranking deserter then pardon that deserter who should have been shot.
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