Here’s what you should know about presidential pardons.
What are the powers of presidential pardons?
• Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, not state crimes.
• It only extends to criminal offences and does not preclude civil actions.
• A president can offer pardons or clemency even if an individual has not been charged or convicted with a federal crime.
• The legal forgiveness ends any further punishment and restores civil rights such as being able to vote or run for public office.
• The pardon, however, doesn't wipe out the record of the conviction.
What’s the history behind presidential pardons?
• The power to grant a pardon originates from the English system and is historically a royal prerogative.
• It was carried into American practice. George Washington issued the first presidential pardon in 1795 to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion on his final day in office.
• Every US President has used the pardon power.
• Barack Obama pardoned, commuted, or rescinded the conviction of 1,927 people during his term in office.
• At the federal level, the president has the power to permit a pardon. At the state level, the governor or a pardon board made up of high-ranking state officials could grant it.
How does a presidential pardon work?
• You ask for one. This means applying through a process overseen by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Pardon Attorney.
• Traditionally, individuals seeking a pardon apply through DOJ and will have to wait for at least five years from the time they were released from prison before requesting a pardon.
• The president, however, may choose to bypass the Pardon Attorney and grant a pardon even in the absence of application or recommendation from DOJ. In other words, the president can pardon anyone.
Are there limits on a presidential pardon?
• The power to grant clemency is still one of the broadest powers granted to a president under the U.S. Constitution.
• There’s no limit to how many people a president can pardon.
• Neither the U.S. Congress nor the courts have the authority to overturn a presidential pardon once it has been granted. With that kind of sweeping power comes questions and controversy.
What is the controversy now?
• Trump had tested the idea that he could pardon himself after his defeat in the November Presidential elections. But so far, he has not done it.
• It would be legal for Trump to pardon his inner circle, including members of his family.
• It is still an open legal question and remains unclear whether the president can pardon himself constitutionally, because it has never been attempted before.
• There are a few obstacles to the president pardoning himself.
• Firstly, pardons are only applicable to federal crimes. Trump could be slammed with a pile of personal lawsuits once he leaves office but many are in New York.
• Secondly, the Constitution forbids presidents from acquitting themselves from impeachments. Which means the crimes that the president is found guilty of committing as part of his impeachment would not be valid for a pardon.
• Alternatively, instead of granting a pardon for himself, Trump could also resign prior to leaving office, handing the mandate to pardon over to Vice President Mike Pence.
• But looking at the recent riot incident at the US Capitol, where Trump put Pence’s life at risk, it appears unlikely that the vice president would grant the president a pardon.
Controversial presidential pardons in the past
• In 1974, former President Richard Nixon was preemptively pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford for all crimes he might have committed against the US while he was in office. The decision was never challenged.
• In 2001, former President Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger Clinton, after he served a year in prison for pleading guilty to cocaine distribution charges.
• Clinton also pardoned fugitive banker and political ally Mark Rich while in office.
• More recently, Obama's most famous act of clemency was to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who leaked military secrets.
Who has Trump pardoned?
• Trump pardoned four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
• He also pardoned former aides convicted during investigations by special prosecutor Robert Mueller on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US Elections
https://www.astroawani.com/berita-dunia/trump-in-wave-of-tuesday-pardons-so-far-not-planning-to-pardon-himself-source-278373
