The Dangers of the Presidential Pardon

The famous Anti-Federalist George Mason said when discussing the implementation of the Constitution in 1787 that “The President of the United States has the unrestrained Power of granting Pardon for Treason; which may be sometimes exercised to screen from Punishment those whom he had secretly instigated to commit the Crime, and thereby prevent a Discovery of his own Guilt.” This statement foreshadowed the use of the Presidential Pardon for political reasons and self-preservation.

George Mason

Throughout history the power for the President to pardon or commute sentences has been abused, more so in recent years. The power to pardon or commute sentences has been used by Presidents to prevent: cronies, relatives, donors, and friends from serving the time they were convicted for or erasing the record of their crime entirely.

One of the most suspicious Presidential pardons was the one used by President Ford for Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon received a full pardon from President Ford, exempting him from any prosecutions that might have occurred for his involvement in Watergate and its subsequent cover-up. It was widely believed that Nixon agreed to resign with the condition of a guarantee that he would be pardoned for all crimes he committed while in office. This action prevented Nixon from being tried in the court of law and allowed Nixon to maintain all of the luxuries assigned to ex-Presidents.

President Gerald Ford

Another example of a President misusing the power to pardon people for political reasons was George Bush Sr. President George Bush Sr. pardoned multiple staffers and federal workers who took part in the Iran-Contra affair. The Iran-Contra Affair took place during the Reagan Administration, for which George Bush Sr. was Vice President. The scheme was fairly basic, the United States government would sell weapons to the Iranian government in order to secure the release of U.S. hostages taken in the country. The money generated from the sale of weapons would be used to fund insurgent Contras in Nicaragua in order to implement regime change and install a more U.S. friendly leader. The only problem was that Congress had forbidden the President from authorizing these actions. The Reagan Administration went through with the proposal anyways, although it is debatable how much Reagan and Bush Sr. knew of the affair.

A third example of a President misusing the power of the Presidential Pardon for political reasons was George W. Bush. Bush used the power to commute, but not pardon, the sentence of Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff “Scooter” Libby. Libby was convicted of leaking classified information about CIA agent Valeria Plame to the press in order to discredit her husband. Libby was convicted and sentenced to prison, but had his sentence commuted by Bush.

"Scooter" Libby

It is my personal opinion the Executive Branch has abused the Presidential Pardon too much. The Office of the President has used pardons far too liberally in the past for cases that involve former staffers or friends. These abuses show that there is no true justice in America. As long as you are connected, wealthy, or even an employee of the President you can escape justice, which undermines the judicial system as a whole. Although the above examples are some of the more extreme misuses of the Presidential Pardon I still believe that more oversight should be conducted in order to ensure that pardons are not used for corrupt purposes. 

For more information on Presidential Pardons visit this site for an interesting discussion.