Skip to main content

PARDON ME?

 A lot has been made in the last couple of weeks of the President's (now past President) pardons and commutations (although most don't know what a commutation is - they "know" they should be upset with them. For the record a commutation is the substitution of a lesser penalty than originally given - typically time served. The conviction and criminal record still exists. A pardon is the overturning of the actual conviction. It exonerates the person and expunges their record of the crime.)

Presidential pardons and commutations are a power granted to all Presidents from the U.S. Constitution. In the section enumerating Presidential powers and authority, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 states which states: "...he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States". Although there has been some arguments among Constitutional scholars, this power is considered to be only for convictions and/or violations of Federal laws, not State laws. Every President has used this power, particularly in the time immediate time prior to leaving office (read "January prior to the Inauguration of the incoming President).

President Trump used this power and headlines were blasted across newspapers, magazines, and websites about how he was "Expected to Grant Over 100 Pardons" in his last week. I just wanted to give some perspective (as I am want to do on many subjects). Let's compare with his predecessor President Obama. 

In the 8 years Obama was President his pardons and commutations numbers were:

212 Pardons and 1,715 Commutations

Trump's numbers for his 4 years were:

 143 Pardons and 94 Commutations

I hear the cry now: "But Trump served half the time! The comparisons are not fair!" 

So, here are the numbers for the January they were both leaving office (January 2017 for Obama and January 2021 for Trump)

President Obama: 142 Pardons & 1,043 Commutations

President Trump: 74 Pardons & 75 Commutations

So, it is apparent that President Trump did not "go crazy" with the use of his pardon power. 

As a reference here are the numbers for some other recent Presidents and the two referenced above:

Regan:  393 Pardons & 13 Commutations

H.W. Bush: 74 Pardons & 3 Commutations

Clinton: 396 Pardons & 61 Commutations

W. Bush: 189 Pardons & 11 Commutations

Obama: 212 Pardons & 1,715 Commutations

Trump: 143 Pardons & 94 Commutations

I do recognize that depending on your position, both politically and on certain laws, would cause you to feel differently about the persons that were granted pardons and commutations, but that is not the subject of this post. One could argue those positions endlessly in any case. I just wanted to point out the numbers. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who's got gas?

Here is another thing that is bothering me - I am tired of people whining about gas prices. Gas was never free!! When people whine about "$40 to fill my tank" they forget that even at $2 a gallon it was $25 or so to fill it!! Here are some numbers: The average car in the U.S. is driven about 12,000 miles a year. If you get 20 MPG (hey if you are driving a Hummer, getting 10, I don't want to hear it!) That is 600 gallons of gas a year. Most people would be estatic if gas was at $2 a gallon again -SO, that is about $600 a year (for the extra $1 a gallon) or $11.54 a week. Now I know there are a LOT of folks that were struggling to pay the $2, but the average person I know was not. Here is another way to look at it. How many Starbuck's coffees or lattes have you had lately at $$37.33 a gallon? ($3.50 for a 12 oz one) How about a beer on an airplane at $53.33 a gallon? ($5 per) Then there is bottled water at $10.66 a gallon. ($1 a 12oz bottle -and it can be MUCH higher
1 comment
Read more

Our Guv'ment

Section 8 - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises , to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads ; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings a
2 comments
Read more

Being Thankful

Here on the eve of Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate to be thankful. However there are many, many reasons to be thankful. We are thankful that we live in a country where fortunes can be made by lawsuits over the temperature of a beverage. We are thankful that we have cameras to record every movement of the latest pop tart exiting a limo. We are thankful that we have more lawyers than any other nation on earth - over one million. (I just read that 70% of the lawyers in the world are in the U.S.) We are thankful that we are innocent until proven guilty - unless the charges are of a nature as to be offensive to someone. We are thankful that we have hundreds of channels of television, still with nothing on worth watching most times. Along that theme, we are thankful to be able to watch exiting "sports" like spelling bees and baccarat. We are thankful to have devoted public servants and elected officials that look upon their job as a way to line their pockets. We ar
1 comment
Read more