Presidential Pardon’s: not a new topic for those who choose to pay attention to government and political agendas. This mighty tool can be executed by the stroke of a presidential pen, quick and mighty it can be. Presidential pardons date back to the inception of America’s Constitution, being depicted by President George Washington, who handed out a total of 16 pardons or grants of clemency. Over the years, these numbers have fluctuated, greatly. Some presidents have elected to elude this topic by granting very few, or none. Others have run their pen’s ink dry by handing out thousands of pardons or commuted sentences. We can summarize that this presidential power has been much used, and at times abused throughout the history of America.
At this point, let’s take a moment to examine a few of the larger numbers. President Jackson pardoned over 7500 individuals; most were prior Confederate soldiers. In 1977, President Carter signed Proclamation 4483, which would allow presidential pardons to all Vietnam war-era draft dodgers. At the end of his presidency, Joe Biden granted pardons or commuted the sentences of over 8000 individuals, with a majority relating to drug offenses. Then, President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1500 persons for the January 6th attacks in Washington D.C.; some feel this was just, some adamantly disagree. And, so on, and so forth.
What can we take away from these presidential acts? Many who aren’t directly involved are confused, angered, or just don’t care, but what effect do these have on the Criminal Justice system? I think the loudest message is that political, party or personal favors are the general consensus, and that people don’t have to “do the time, if they do the crime,” if you have friends in high places.
Politicians will be politicians, but my main concern is what kind of message this is sending to the public regarding criminal justice, and do the presidents fully understand the impact of their acts? Let’s take a quick look at some of these actions and try to determine if they are best for the overall public.
When a president pardons over 6000 individuals for drug crimes (mostly marijuana possession), did they actually think this through before proceeding? I completely understand criminal justice reform, with marijuana being a main topic, but federal offenders? These are people who possess large amounts of marijuana, more than a common user, with most being with the intent to distribute. Drug dealers they are, and most drug traffickers disseminate a variety of illegal drugs, not just marijuana. Drug dealers are killers, and no one can convince me otherwise.
Then, we have a man who is running an illicit site on the dark web, where about anything imaginable, mostly illegal drugs, can be purchased. After his conviction and life sentencing, this individual was pardoned, and let’s not leave out the part where he was caught soliciting someone to murder an associate of his. Then, over 3-dozen death row inmates have their sentences commuted, along with others convicted of homicides over the years, pardoned. And let’s not overlook the woman who defrauded her small community of over $50 million, also pardoned. The list goes on, seemingly forever.
Over the years (and many recently), these pardons and acts of clemency have placed felony offenders back on the streets of America. Some have rehabilitated, some have not, and numerous will continue to reoffend. As those in the criminal justice profession know, rehabilitation is the desired dream, but reoffending is more so the reality.
The topic of Presidential pardons leaves many of us wondering, are these just? Pardons are necessary but should they be limited? Could this maybe be another area of our government that needs to be re-examined? Do these executive actions help or hinder America’s Criminal Justice System? The balls in your court, and I bet you can guess what my response would be!
By: Ronald Long