February 26th, 2020 | Written By - Katherine Cassese '21
Article II, Section II of the Constitution states that “[the President] shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Presidents have used this power to pardon differently over time. Some well known examples of the pardons’ use are President Jimmy Carter offering a blanket pardon to any American who dodged the Vietnam draft, President Ford pardoning Nixon for any crimes he may have committed in office, and President Obama commuting soldier Chelsea Manning’s sentence for her role in Wikileaks.
The Office of the Pardon Attorney, a division of the Department of Justice, has advised presidents on pardons for individuals for the past 125 years. This office receives thousands of applications a year and now has 13,000 requests to be decided upon. Most of them probably will not receive a decision.
Few of Trump’s pardons have come from this bureaucratic office. For example, Trump’s very first pardon was Joe Arpaio, better known as Sheriff Joe. Sheriff Joe was found in contempt of court for refusing to stop arresting Latinos on the basis of his suspicions of undocumented status, a practice that led to the arrests of some documented residents. While he was proud to be known as ‘the toughest sheriff in America,’ other groups decried his cruel treatment of immigrants. He was an early supporter of Trump, and--defying convention--he hadn’t even applied for a pardon or served a single month in prison before Trump pardoned him.
Trump has also pardoned two high-profile soldiers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance was convicted of ordering his soldiers to shoot unarmed Afghan civilians, and Maj. Mathew Golsteyn was accused of killing a Taliban bomb maker and burning his remains in a trash pit.
Lots of other pardon recipients have been well connected or received celebrity attention. Kim Kardashian visited the White House to advocate for the release of Alice Johnson, who was serving a life sentence on cocaine trafficking charges until she received her commutation. Trump has also pardoned conservative author and filmmaker, Dinesh D'Souza, and the former owner of the 49ers, Edward DeBartolo Jr.
Trump is not the only president to ignore the Office of the Pardon. Bill Clinton was accused of bypassing it when he issued many individual pardons--including to his half-brother--at the end of his term. The president also has the right to issue pardons however he sees fit and Trump’s neglect of the Pardon Attorney is characteristic of his desire to operate outside of traditional bureaucratic channels. Unfortunately, offering pardons outside of normal channels reduces the chances of normal people with merit getting them and instead elevates the rich, famous and well-connected. Watching how Trump will use the pardon power moving forward might give more insights into his presidency.
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