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Presidential Pardons Explained: Powers, Types & Controversies
- 1. Presidential Pardons by: Hugo Alonzo
- 2. The Law Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution • Presidential pardons are nearly unlimited and cannot be checked by any other branch of government • Pardons are not meant to correct a judicial error, such as a wrong conviction - they are intended for people who have atoned for their crimes or for those who have completed their sentences * Krent, Harold J.. Presidential powers . New York: New York University Press, 2005. Print.
- 3. Types of Pardons • Full – restores citizenship rights, such as voting privileges and jury obligations • Conditional – remains subject to conditions of release. Does not restore rights of citizenship, and can be revoked if a person does not comply with the conditions of release. • Pardon based on innocence – exonerates an individual of the crime and erases the conviction • Posthumous – for a person who is deceased * "Board of Pardons and Paroles Executive Clemency Page." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/
- 4. Can the president pardon someone who has not been convicted of anything? • Called: ‘Preemptive’ or ‘Anticipatory’ pardons • President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for offenses Nixon "committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974 • President Carter pardoned Vietnam draft evaders * Huges, Mark . "Presidential Pardons — Infoplease.com." Web. 16 Mar. 2011. <http://www.infoplease.com/us/government/presidential-pardons.html>. President Gerald Ford testifying before the House Judicial Committee about his pardoning of former president Richard Nixon.
- 5. The First Presidential Pardon The Whiskey Rebellion
- 6. A pardon you can’t refuse Jimmy Hoffa – pardoned 1971 * Myers, Kristina Dell andRebecca. "The 10 Most Notorious Presidential Pardons - Whiskey Rebels - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.
- 7. Homerun Pardon? GEORGE STEINBRENNER, 1989 * Myers, Kristina Dell andRebecca. "The 10 Most Notorious Presidential Pardons - Whiskey Rebels - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.
- 8. Stockholm Pardon Patty Hearst, 2001 * Myers, Kristina Dell andRebecca. "The 10 Most Notorious Presidential Pardons - Whiskey Rebels - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.
- 9. Controversy – Marc Rich Background: 1983 – Rich was charged with racketeering, illegal trading with Iran and evading a tax bill of $48m. Rich fled to Switzerland to avoid prosecution. * Bevanger, Lars. " BBC News | AMERICAS | Marc Rich: Hero or villain?." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1171955.stm>. President Bill Clinton pardoned him after Rich’s ex-wife donated $1 million to the Democratic Party and $450,000 to the Clinton Presidential Library.
- 10. *indicates estimate Source: United States Department of Justice (USDOJ); University of Pittsburg, Jurist Legal Intelligence
- 11. Lawrence O’Donnell: Laying Down the Law on Pardons * "Rewriting Presidential pardons on MSN Video." MSN Video. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/rewriting- presidential-pardons/6o0ptei>.
Editor's Notes
- Article II empowers the president to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment.
- Examples of Conditional: early release, commuting of sentence (death sentence -- life in prison)
- In 1791 Congress entacted a large tax on liquor to help reduce the national debt. The small producers were upset and began an armed rebellion in Pennsylvania which quickly spread to other states. President George Washington called in 13,000 troops to stop the opposition. The government charged the rebel leaders with treason and several were sentenced to die by hanging. Washington pardoned those men.
- The head of the Teamsters had been serving a 15-year prison sentence for jury tampering and fraud when President Richard Nixon pardoned him in 1971. Nixon had one condition, however: Hoffa should "not engage in direct or indirect management of any labor organization" until at least March 1980. Hoffa agreed and supported Nixon's re-election bid in 1972. It is believed that Hoffa was trying to reassert his power over the Teamsters, defying Nixon's requirement, when he disappeared in 1975.
- Indicted on 14 criminal counts the owner of the New York Yankees plead guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiring to make illegal contributions to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign. Steinbrenner, a major Republican donor, allegedly knew the money he was donating was not going through regular election procedures. President Ronald Reagan gave Steinbrenner a full pardon if the Yankees' owner admitted to the crime.
- In 1974 an urban guerilla group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) kidnapped the printing heiress from her California apartment. Two months later the 19-year-old was photographed robbing a San Francisco bank while brandishing an assault rifle. At trial her lawyer focused not only on her abuse and the fact that the kidnappers forced her to take part in the robbery, but on the brainwashing by her attackers that caused her to sympathize with them. The defense didn't work and Hearst was convicted of bank robbery on March 20, 1976. She was imprisoned for almost two years before Jimmy Carter commuted her seven-year sentence and freed her from jail. But it was President Bill Clinton who granted her a full pardon on the last day of his presidency, January 20, 2001.
- Rich indicted by the future mayor of NYC – Rudy Guiliani. Even though he was pardoned, Rich can still be charged in a civil suit if he returns to the US, which he has never done. Marc Rich had made substantial donations to Israeli charitable foundations and there were clemency pleas from Israeli government officials, including then-Prime Minister Ehud. Another possible reason for the pardon could be because of Rich’s ties to the Israeli intelligence community. Rich claims he provided valuable information to the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service This pardon, along with the pardon of his half-brother, Roger, and former business partner Susan McDougal, outraged Republicans and Democrats
- Two presidents did not grant any pardons during their administrations, William H. Harrison and James Garfield. Both men died soon after they became president, one month in the case of Harrison, who died of pneumonia, and six months in the case of Garfield, who was assassinated.