Discussion Why does the US president give out (criminal) pardons?

[Forever Sleep]

It's not to say there shouldn't be appeals processes. Sadly- our judicial systems don't always get it right. Pardoning a false/ unsafe verdict is obviously the right thing to do.

This seems more like actual criminals being pardoned though!



And- why even choose them? Surely- there are more deserving cases where the evidence and investigation is extremely suspect.

Has anyone seen the series: 'Making a Murderer'? Steven Avery spent almost 20 years in jail- wrongly convicted of rape. He was exonerated through DNA testing. 2 years after being released, a body of a woman was discovered on his property- an auto salvage yard.

There are so many dodgy things about this case though. The series is worth a watch if you are interested in true crime. It was definitely enough to make me believe he was set up- for a second time effectively.

I suspect though, overturning the verdict would shine a very critical light on the police. Who absolutely coerced a false confession out of the nephew for one- if you watch the series, it's obvious in the footage. It's possibly they planted evidence too and just so much about the case looks unsafe.

So, I don't get it at all. It actually makes a mockery of the justice system if the big cheese at the top can just decide to pardon people on a whim. Most especially if there's clear cut evidence that they broke the law! But then, it shouldn't be surprising. Why would a president who clearly has no respect for the law or constitution think anything of releasing a few more criminals back into society? Honour amongst thieves and all that.

 

[Hvergelmir]

Pardoning a false/ unsafe verdict is obviously the right thing to do.

I don't think the purpose of a pardon is to reevaluate evidence. Law enforcements and the justice system are the ones most qualified to do this.
I think the purpose of a pardon, is to let a real law violation slide.

There are rare instances where something is technically highly illegal, but also the only reasonable course of action. Maybe a law is poorly formulated, or some extraordinary circumstance isn't accounted for. The court's job is still to interpreted the law literally. A pardon protects people from when the law itself is in error.

It actually makes a mockery of the justice system if the big cheese at the top can just decide to pardon people on a whim.

Agreed. In my country, and I assume most other democracies, no single person can pardon crimes - there's a democratic process to it, with meetings, discussions, and voting. I'm very much not an expert in the U.S legal system, but it ought to go through the senate or something.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I don't think the purpose of a pardon is to reevaluate evidence. Law enforcements and the justice system are the ones most qualified to do this.
I think the purpose of a pardon, is to let a real law violation slide.

There are rare instances where something is technically highly illegal, but also the only reasonable course of action. Maybe a law is poorly formulated, or some extraordinary circumstance isn't accounted for. The court's job is still to interpreted the law literally. A pardon protects people from when the law itself is in error.


Agreed. In my country, and I assume most other democracies, no single person can pardon crimes - there's a democratic process to it, with meetings, discussions, and voting. I'm very much not an expert in the U.S legal system, but it ought to go through the senate or something.

It makes sense if it truly is something that was justified but, the law doesn't quite see it that way.

The guy in the YouTube short seems to have been a convicted con artist though- defrauding more than 10,000 investors. Alleged by prosecutors of a $1.6 billion Ponzi scheme. It took the jury 5 hours to enter the guilty verdict and he was supposed to serve seven years. He served less than two weeks.

Maybe Trump admires him. Maybe he wants him on the staff! It sounds more like a favour for someone though. What possible legitimate reason could there be to defraud people though?

 

[Dejected 55]

The original intent behind the President having this power would be for cases where the justice system fails. We do have people that get convicted only to find out they may not have been guilty... and the wheels of justice tend to turn VERY slowly once you are in jail. Lots of guilty people get away with stuff because they have money or influence, while people with neither can get railroaded.

So, the point would be for a President to be petitioned by such people who think they did not get a fair trial, or were otherwise actually not guilty, or every once in a while someone who was guilty but has served far more punishing sentence than was warranted for the crime they were judged to have committed... and in those kinds of cases the President can make a goodwill gesture to pardon those people.

But... like anything... it's subject to be corrupted because there is no check/balance on it. the President can pardon anyone for any reason... so if there's anything in it for the President, there's lots of opportunity to pardon people who shouldn't be pardoned.

 

[Winterreise]

Criminals hire criminals