A Pardon Is the Forgiveness of a Crime and the Penalty Associated with It
A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a sovereign power, such as a monarch or chief of state. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The act of clemency is a reprieve. Today, pardons and reprieves are granted in many countries when individuals have demonstrated that they have fulfilled their debt to society, or are otherwise deserving (in the opinion of the pardoning official) of a pardon or reprieve. Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who, it is claimed, have been wrongfully convicted. However, accepting such a pardon implicitly constitutes an admission of guilt, so in some cases the offer is refused.
Many pardons have been controversial; critics argue that pardons have been used more often for the sake of political expediency than to correct judicial error. Perhaps the most famous U.S. pardon in history was granted by President Gerald Ford to former President Richard Nixon on September 8, 1974 for official misconduct which gave rise to the Watergate scandal. Polls showed that the majority of American citizens strongly disapproved of this pardon at the time. Ford's public-approval ratings tumbled after he pardoned Nixon, and he was narrowly defeated in the presidential campaign two years later. Other controversial uses of the pardon power include Andrew Johnson's sweeping pardons of thousands of former Confederate officials and military personnel after the American Civil War, Jimmy Carter's grant of amnesty to Vietnam-era draft evaders, George H. W. Bush's pardons of six Reagan administration officials accused and/or convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra affair, and Bill Clinton's pardons of convicted FALN terrorists and 140 people on his last day in office.
A presidential pardon may be granted at any time after commission of the offense; the pardoned person need not have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime. In the overwhelming majority of cases, however, the Pardon Attorney will only consider petitions from persons who have completed their sentences and, in addition, have demonstrated their ability to lead a responsible and productive life for a significant period after conviction or release from confinement. Federal courts have held that the President may make a pardon or reprieve conditional, and that a person who is granted such a pardon or reprieve cannot refuse it, but must accept and comply with its conditions.
The pardon power of the President extends only to offenses cognizable under Federal law. However, the governors of most states have the power to grant pardons or reprieves for offenses under state criminal law. In other states, that power is committed to an appointed agency or board, or to a board and the governor in some hybrid arrangement.
This is a very incomplete list of notable people who have been pardoned by a United States President. About 20,000 pardons and clemencies were issued by U.S. presidents in the 20th century. [1]
- Elliott Abrams (pardoned by George H. W. Bush)
- Orlando Bosch (pardoned by George H. W. Bush)
- Roger Clinton, Jr. (pardoned by William Clinton)
- Eugene Debs (pardoned by Warren Harding)
- Armand Hammer (pardoned by George H. W. Bush)
- Patricia Campbell Hearst (pardoned by William Clinton)
- Jimmy Hoffa (sentence commuted by Richard Nixon)
- G. Gordon Liddy (sentence commuted by Jimmy Carter)
- Robert C. McFarlane (pardoned by George H. W. Bush)
- Richard Nixon (pardoned by Gerald Ford)
- Marc Rich (pardoned by William Clinton)
- George Steinbrenner (pardoned by Ronald Reagan)
- David King Udall (pardoned by Grover Cleveland)
- William Van Schaik, captain of the General Slocum (pardoned by William Taft)
- Caspar Weinberger (pardoned by George H.W. Bush)
- Brigham Young (pardoned by James Buchanan)