What does the U.S. Constitution state about presidential pardons?
Presidential pardons can be found in the U.S. Constitution in Article II Section II Clause I. The original text from the Constitution says, "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their Respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.'' With this in the Constitution, the president was endowed with the right to pardon any person he/she wants to without the need to obtain anyone's consent.
what are presidential pardons?The big question is, what are presidential pardons? Why and how were they put into the Constitution? Dr. Jeffrey Crouch, an Assistant Professor of American Politics at American University and author of the book "Pardon Power", answers those questions in the video to the right.
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"I think it's appropriate to examine what happened probably as a cautionary lesson to future presidents of the United States that there will be a very high penalty to pay if you abuse this power."
-- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Fox.
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How do you apply for a pardon?Now you know what pardons are and how they came to be. But, do you know how to apply for a pardon? Dr. Jeffery Crouch walks through the process of applying for a pardon in the video to the left.
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What could be a possible reason that presidential pardons were included in the constitution?
"The Framers’ reason for including the Pardon Power in the Constitution most likely was to allow a remedy for grave miscarriages of justice, such as wrongful convictions and greatly excessive sentences. Remember, though, that the original Constitution did not include a limit on the number of terms a President could serve; that was added much later, by the 22nd Amendment in 1951. So, in granting Presidents the power to pardon, the Framers probably assumed that Presidents would have a strong political incentive not to abuse that power – namely the danger of angering the voters and harming a President’s chances of reelection. By limiting Presidents to two terms in office, the 22nd Amendment has eliminated a political safeguard against abuse of the Pardon Power, thus increasing somewhat the risk that abuse will occur."
-- Professor Christopher J. Peters, University of Baltimore
-- Professor Christopher J. Peters, University of Baltimore
"Many times revolutions can end with promise of pardons and need for individual executive judgement."
-- Professor Mark Graber, Professor of Law and Government; UM Carey School of Law
-- Professor Mark Graber, Professor of Law and Government; UM Carey School of Law
"I believe the reason is more historical than anything else. The English sovereign had the power to pardon and it would have been natural for the framers to adopt the same authority."
-- Professor Eric Easton, Professor of Law; University of Baltimore
-- Professor Eric Easton, Professor of Law; University of Baltimore