Pardon Me! The abuse of the modern presidential pardon. (VANITY)

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Posted on 12/16/2024 4:29:30 PM PST by Lazamataz

As is usual for the year 2024, we are in uncharted waters.

The Presidential Pardon is one of the only plenary powers that a president has. This power is one of the only ones that has nearly no restrictions or controls. The Founders granted the president this power with the thought that we would never have a truly criminal president.

The Framers of the Constitution modeled portions of our system on the British system of governance; in particular, the Pardon. The King of England was able to pardon individuals, and so were the governors of the American colonies. It was, then, logical that they would provide the president this power.

They expected that this power would be used as a check against the Judiciary, or in periods of great conflict when the pardoning of a leader, politician, or citizen would quell internal strife. There was great debate at the time, however, as to whether this ability should be applicable to the crime of treason.

When a president commits high crimes or treason, the remedy for that is impeachment and conviction. But what if the president instructs his staff to commit crimes, only to pardon them at the end of his term?

This effectively immunizes the president or his subordinates against possible criminal and civil charges for extremely illegal and immoral behavior, such as the depravation of Civil Rights under the color of law. It opens up a Pandora's Box and allows any future president to direct all sorts of criminal activity, while ensuring their subordinates do not face consequences for those actions.

We have President Biden considering pardoning the entire January 6 committee. We have him considering pardoning vast swaths of the FBI and intelligence community. These people clearly acted outside the law in spying on and maliciously prosecuting Donald Trump. If he does so -- or if Obama wills it and Biden acts -- I fear it wdoul permanently damage American Rule of Law, reducing it instead to a Rule of Man.

What if government agencies began persecuting people merely for their political leanings, only to be pardoned at the end of that sort of political bloodbath? I fear his wide-ranging pardons would permanently damage America, and allow future presidents to run roughshod over our civilian population.

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1 posted on 12/16/2024 4:29:30 PM PST by Lazamataz

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2 posted on 12/16/2024 4:31:12 PM PST by Lazamataz (The BEST birthday present I ever got WAS DONALD TRUMP WINNING IN 2024!!!)

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