Presidential Pardons?

imperfect.la

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Something that's really amazed me in American politics is the power of presidential pardons. Essentially, for those who do not know, the President of the United States is able to pardon anyone who has committed a federal crime. What's even more surprising is the amount and the type of people that Presidents usually pardon.

For example, George W. Bush:

1. James Leon Adams (1965 selling firearms to out of state residents and falsifying firearms records)[3]
2. Kristan Diane Bullock Akins (1990 Embezzlement by a bank employee)[4]
3. Charles James Allen (1979 conspiracy to defraud the United States. A former federal employee, Allen was convicted for approving payments to James Hilles Associates Inc., a Virginia firm, for office supplies that were never delivered. In return, Allen received car parts, a radio, a freezer and other gifts from the firm. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
4. Tony Dale Ashworth (1989 unlawful transfer of a firearm)[3]
5. Alan Dale Austin (1987 misapplication of mortgage funds)[5]
6. William Sidney Baldwin Sr. (1981 conspiracy to possess marijuana. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
7. Timothy Evans Barfield (1989 aiding and abetting false statements on a Small Business Administration loan application. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
8. Bruce Louis Bartos (1987 transportation of a machine gun in foreign commerce)[6]
9. David Thomas Billmyer (1978 military conviction for making a false claim)[7]
10. Clyde Philip Boudreaux (1975 military conviction for borrowing money from enlisted men, accepting a noninterest-bearing loan from a government contractor and signing and swearing to a false affidavit. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
11. Gene Armand Bridger (1963 Conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and mail fraud)[8]
12. Marie Georgette Ginette Briere (1982 possession of cocaine with intent to distribute)
13. Carl E. Cantrell (1967 moonshining)[9]
14. Charles Winston Carter (1964 conspiracy to steal government property)[9]
15. Meredith Elizabeth Casares (1989 embezzlement of US Postal Service funds)[10]
16. Ronald William Cauley (1980 Misapplication of bank funds by an employee)[4]
17. Cathryn Iline Clasen-Gage (1992 Misprision of a felony)[8]
18. Thomas Kimble Collinsworth (1989 Receipt of a stolen motor vehicle that had been transported in interstate commerce)[8]
19. Charles Russell Cooper (1959 bootlegging) [5]
20. Anthony John Curreri (1976 Mail fraud) [11]
21. Morris F. Cranmer, Jr. (1988 Making materially false statements to a federally-insured institution)[8]
22. Dale C. Critz, Jr. (1989 making a false statement)
23. William Charles Davis (1983 income tax evasion)[7]
24. Randall Leece Deal (1960 and 1964 liquor laws)[3]
25. Paul Jude Donnici (September 23, 1993) Use of a telephone in the transmission of wagering information [12]
26. William Henry Eagle (1972 moonshining)[3]
27. Mark Alan Eberwine (1985 conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding, impairing, and obstructing the assessment of taxes by the Internal Revenue Service and making false declarations to the grand jury. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
28. Rusty Lawrence Elliott (1991 Making counterfeit Federal Reserve notes)[8]
29. Robert Carter Eversole (1984 theft)[3]
30. Gerald Douglas Ficke (1992 money laundering)[10]
31. Harper James Finucan (1980 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)[9]
32. Kenneth Clifford Foner (1991 bank fraud)[3]
33. Anthony Americo Franchi (1983 tax evasion)
34. Colin Earl Francis (1993 accepting a kickback of about $9,000 for helping a vendor for United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft division, where Francis worked at the time, land a contract. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
35. Victoria Diane Frost (1994 conspiracy to possess)[3]
36. William Grover Frye (1968 AWOL and 1973 sale of stolen car)[3]
37. Joseph Daniel Gavin (1979 military insubordination, drunkenness, threats, and other offenses) [5]
38. George Glenn (1956 accepting $50 bribe while in military)
39. Samuel Wattie Guerry (1984 food stamp fraud)[12]
40. Adam Wade Graham (1992 Conspiracy to deliver 10 or more grams of LSD)[8]
41. Charles E. Hamilton (1989 mail fraud)[12]
42. Stanley Bernard Hamilton 1990 (money order fraud)[3]
43. Brianna Lea Haney (1991 failure to report monetary instruments)[6]
44. George Thomas Harley (1984 aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
45. Rufus Edward Harris (1963 Possession and selling tax-unpaid whiskey)[8]
46. Jesse Ray Harvey (1990 Property damage by use of explosives and destruction of an energy facility)[8]
47. David Custer Heaston (1988 false statement)[6]
48. Melodie Jean Hebert (1984 defrauding U.S. with false claims)[3]
49. Patricia Ann Hultman (1985 conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and other controlled substances. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
50. Bobby Frank Kay Sr. (1959 moonshining)[9]
51. James Ernest Kinard, Jr. (1984 fraudulent firearms dealer records)[3]
52. Richard Ardell Krueger (1979 mail fraud and 1980 and false statement on a loan application)[7]
53. Devin Timothy Kruse (1979 AWOL from Coast Guard)[3]
54. Margaret Ann Leggett (1981 false claims)
55. Raul Marin (1982 failure to appear in court) [5]
56. Larry Paul Lenius (1989 Conspiracy to distribute cocaine)[8]
57. Larry Lee Lopez (1985 Conspiracy to import marijuana)[8]
58. Bobbie Archie Maxwell (1962 Mailing a threatening letter)[8]
59. David B. McCall, Jr. (1997 False entry in bank books and aiding and abetting)[13]
60. Melvin L. McKee (1982 conspiracy to make false statements on a loan application)[9]
61. Charles McKinley, (1950 moonshining)[9]
62. Michael Mark McLaughlin (1983 mail fraud and conspiracy)[7]
63. Craven Wilford McLemore (1983 Conspiracy to defraud the United States and Caddo County) [11]
64. Denise Bitters Mendelkow (1981 Embezzlement by a bank employee)[8]
65. Michael Robert Moelter (1988 illegal gambling business)[6]
66. Billie Curtis Moore (1977 income tax evasion)[7]
67. Richard Arthur Morse (1963 transportation of a stolen vehicle)[10]
68. Gerard Murphy (1972 car theft)[3]
69. Kenneth Lynn Norris (1993 unlawful disposal of hazardous waste)[12]
70. Joseph Mathew Novak (1994 possession and transfer of an illegal weapon)[3]
71. Eric William Olson (1984 military conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, possession, and use of hashish. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
72. Donald Lee Pendergrass (1964 armed bank robbery)[9]
73. Fred Dale Pitzer (1976 transportation of falsely made securities)[10]
74. Charles Blurford Power (1948 transportation of a stolen vehicle)[9]
75. Michael John Pozorski (1988 Unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm)[8]
76. James Edward Reed (1975 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)[7]
77. Thomas R. Reece (1969 violating the Internal Revenue Code pertaining to alcohol. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
78. Cecil John Rhodes (1981 false statement on a loan application)[10]
79. John Louis Ribando (1976 and 1978 marijuana dealing)[3]
80. Larry Gene Ross (1989 making false statements in a bank loan application. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
81. Ernest Rudnet (1992 conspiracy to file false tax returns) [5]
82. Gary L. Saltzburg (1995 theft of government property) [5]
83. John Gregory Schillace (1988 conspiracy to possess cocaine for distribution)[9]
84. Russell Don Sell (1995 aiding and abetting a false statement on a loan application)[10]
85. Stephen Davis Simmons (1981 Possession of counterfeit obligations)[4]
86. Scott LaVerne Sparks (1989 theft of government property)[7]
87. Wendy St. Charles (1984 conspiracy to trade narcotics and cocaine distribution)[9]
88. David Lloyd St. Croix (1989 disposal of stolen explosives)[5]
89. Jearld David Swanner (1991 making false statements in a bank loan application. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
90. James Walter Taylor (1991 bank fraud. Pardoned December 21, 2006)
91. Johnson Heyward Tisdale (1994 food stamp fraud)[12]
92. Edward Rodriguez Trevino, Jr. (1997 theft, convicted in military court)[3]
93. Janet Theone Upton (1975 mail fraud. pardoned December 21, 2006)
94. Jerry Dean Walker (1989 cocaine distribution)[3]
95. Joseph William Warner (1995 arson on an Indian reservation)[5]
96. Mark Lewis Weber (1981 Selling Quaalude tablets, selling, using, and possessing marijuana )[8]
97. Roger Charles Weber (1969 Theft from an interstate shipment)[4]
98. Jimmy Lee Williams (1995 false statements on a loan application)[9]

How does George W. Know all these people? Why do some of these even matter? Does he really need to pardon someone that attempted to steal a car or create moonshine? Accepting a 50 dollar bribe while in the military?

Note: Not just George W. Bush has pardoned these types of people. Every president has.
 
If you wanted an objective discussion you'd of either left off Bush's list or snipped a smaller sample as well as a few from Clinton.

Presidents of all stripes, affiliations, etc... use this and, yeah, I think they all abuse it. I'm not sure I'd get rid of it outright, as I'd wager many (most?) pardons are to reward people who've gone from convict to a very positive force in their community and this is a way to "forgive" them per se. But, I think it should be regulated/made more transparent, something. Its way too abused.

/gets ready for the "OMG CLINTON AHAHAHAH" crapstorm.
 
They're likely friends of the family and/or past contributors of money to the president's campaign.

That seems to be generally the case.

Although I haven't forgiven Reagan for giving George Steinbrenner the pardon, and I don't like Clinton pardoning Rick Hendrick, either.

But I do think it's nice for the executive to have the power to pardon someone who was unjustly convicted of a crime; remember, we Americans don't trust anything having to do with our government, so even a guilty conviction isn't final!

;)
 
I would get rid of it. Both Clinton and Bush have made mockeries of it as well as past Presidents.

Since Nixon was pardoned for breaking his oath of office, every succeeding president has committed even worse crimes than Nixon's.
 
Gerald Ford's use of the Presidential pardon alone negates the mound of inconsequential abuses.
 
Ford pardoning Nixon had the power of pissing half of the country off.
 
Ford pardoning Nixon had the power of pissing half of the country off.
And it saved the country from being ripped apart by the results of the trial and conviction of Richard Nixon. It pissed people off, it cost him reelection, it saved the country.
 
Why do presidents have this power? Theoretically if a covert pedophile somehow got elected, he could pardon all the rapists and pedo friends he has.
 
Remind me again how the country would be "ripped apart" by the act of serving justice against a president who betrayed his oath and his office.

I remember reading somewhere about a Doge of Venice who was found guilty of pretty Nixonian crimes (Venice was Europe's longest-lived democracy). He was condemned to death and his portrait in the gallery of doges is, to this day 7 centuries later, a simple black square.

That's how you friggin do it. Nixon should have rotted in prison for life and his portrait in the WH should be an empty frame.
 
Remind me again how the country would be "ripped apart" by the act of serving justice against a president who betrayed his oath and his office.

I remember reading somewhere about a Doge of Venice who was found guilty of pretty Nixonian crimes (Venice was Europe's longest-lived democracy). He was condemned to death and his portrait in the gallery of doges is, to this day 7 centuries later, a simple black square.

That's how you friggin do it. Nixon should have rotted in prison for life and his portrait in the WH should be an empty frame.
Because 14th century Venice was in an identical political situation to the united states, having just gotten out of its disasterous and politically devisive war in Indochina, and the peaceful and/or successful fate of its civil rights movement still up in the air after the political assassination of two of its most influential leader.

Also stunning are the parrallels between a man suffering from senile dementia attempting a military coup, and an elected official using his power to cover up a break in to a hotel.
 
most pardons are given to people that have already served their time so that while they've been punished they will be able to have a clean record. However I don't think we should allow presidents to pardon after october in any presidential election year. That way if the presidents want to pardon someone then they have to do it when the voters have a chance to backlash against them in the polls
 
And it saved the country from being ripped apart by the results of the trial and conviction of Richard Nixon. It pissed people off, it cost him reelection, it saved the country.

justice > "stability".
 
Amazing how many people hate Nixon after all the things he did that the left absolutely loves.

Wage and price controls, Supplemental Security, OSHA, the EPA, affirmative action, the federal 55 mile an hour speed limits, SALT, the ABM Treaty... today's Democrats would be having spontaneous multiple orgasms if we had another president like that.
 
Well, it's obvious you aren't in favor of the deceased ex-president if you wanted to try him and imprison him.
 
Well, it's obvious you aren't in favor of the deceased ex-president if you wanted to try him and imprison him.

Apparently you forgot the fact that terrible leaders can do good things some times. Nixon is no exception, and is in fact probably the best example of this; I simply point to his diplomacy skills.
 
Democrats give out more pardons than republicans. Jimmy Carter is the current record holder afaik, but I am pretty sure Clinton is second only to him.

And I will go on record as saying that I think Ford did the right thing in pardoning Nixon. Just my opinion.

cleric said:
Why do presidents have this power?

They are not the only ones. State governors have this power as well.
 
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