Pardons Posts

Five Myths about Presidential Pardons

06/11/2018 No Comments

To Get One, Do You Have to Be Convicted First? (“President Trump is in a pardon frenzy. Last month, he dispensed absolution for boxer Jack Johnson and pundit Dinesh D’Souza, and this past week, he declared that he can even pardon himself. A White House official told The Washington Post that Trump is now “obsessed” with pardons, his new “favorite thing.” The pardon power is the most kinglike power our presidents have; they can apply it whenever and to whomever they like. Still, many misconceptions surround this constitutional perquisite.”)

Trump Pardons Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio

08/27/2017 No Comments

Why Trump’s Pardon of Arpaio Follows Law, Yet Challenges It: (“President Trump’s decision to pardon Joe Arpaio was characteristically unconventional. It came late on a Friday night as a hurricane bore down on Texas. It concerned a crime some said was particularly ill-suited to clemency, and it was not the product of the care and deliberation that have informed pardons by other presidents.”)

Can the President Pardon Himself?

07/23/2017 No Comments

Can Trump Pardon Himself? No President Ever Has, and Legal Opinions Are Mixed: (“It’s not rare for presidents to dole out pardons. They’ve pardoned friends and felons, political donors and even a former president.  But can a president pardon himself? Well, we’ve now reached that question, six months into President Trump’s administration.”)