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Originally Posted by Damien
The pardon or ability to commute sentences is really dodgy but I think the main problem is when people use it for their friends and family as is the case with Clinton and Trump. Most of the time it does seem to be used reasonably responsibly.
What they should certainly do is remove the ability to pardon anyone between the November election and Inauguration if you are on the way out. Clinton's pardoning of his brother happened just before Bush took over. Obama's pardoning of Chelsea Manning happened just before Trump.
Each President seems to have one dodgy Pardon when they know it's their last time at it.
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But an interesting fact arose just before Trump Impeachment trial at the beginning of the year. Former presidents can still be Impeached, the power to do so is in the Constitution, however, the primary objective of "Impeachment", is to remove from office, it would be extremely rare for it to be exercised after a president left office.
If Congress, in 1974 had imagined the possibility of President Richard Nixon, rehabilitating his reputation to a point where he may have thought to have a chance at holding a future office however much very unlikely it sounds, there is an absolute chance, a bipartisan House and Senate steaming ahead with an impeachment and trial, in order to bar that possibility through a judgement of disqualification.
---------- Post added at 12:58 ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDaddy
If I lived there the question in my mind would be, is it being used how it was intended to be when created, if it isn't it should be ammended or scrapped imo
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I do not agree it should be scrapped but it does seem that the pardon power oversteps the balance of powers of the other two branches of government, the legislature, House and Senate and Judicial branch, the Supreme Court, however, could a Supreme Court rule a pardon null and void, probably not, because the Supreme Court is bound by the written Constitution, that's why an amendment is required to change the system.
The Pardon and Commutation powers when used correctly do serve a purpose, Trump granted Clemency to one time drug trafficker, an African American woman, Alice Johnson, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole, in 1996, upon her release, she had already served over 21 years in prison, an absolute excessive sentence IMO. A campaign was sought to get her released, a petition was filed for her release, while President Obama was in office. Her application was denied just before Obama left office.