A government act to nullify a criminal charge or conviction of a person.
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Questions tagged [pardon]
61 questions
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Can the President of the United States pardon proactively?
President Trump's administration has just formally started the transition process. He is now officially a lame-duck President. It is common for outgoing Presidents to grant pardons in this last phase of their presidency, while they still have the…
Peter - Reinstate Monica
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If the President's power to grant pardons is absolute, could he face any consequences?
Does the Presidential power to pardon include the power to avoid any consequences?
Consider this hypothetical situation:
An extremely rich individual (a US citizen) gets involved in a sordid love affair, and winds up charged and convicted of…
DJohnM
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What is the purpose of pardoning powers?
Various countries have pardoning powers given to either the president or the governor, this is secured as a constitutional right of the president and governor.
What is the purpose of such powers? Is there a special reason why are they handed to a…
user49663
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Do US presidential pardons include the cancellation of financial punishments?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/anthony-levandowski-pardoned-after-stealing-trade-secrets-from-google.html says:
Anthony Levandowski pardoned after stealing trade secrets from Google
In August, Levandowski was sentenced to 18 months in prison for…
Franck Dernoncourt
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If Trump pardons himself regarding the federal crime he tried to hide by cooking the books, is the New York conviction void?
[Note that Jen in their answer corrects quite a few of the premises of my question; read it. I let the question otherwise stand as-is.]
Falsifying business records in New York is only a felony if it was done in order to hide a felony. That's the…
Peter - Reinstate Monica
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Can Congress pass a law that sets an incarcerated person free?
Imagine John Doe is incarcerated for a crime after exhausting all his appeals. Congress approves a bill, which is then signed into law, that, among a myriad of other things, sets John free.
Has this ever happened?: Is this possible (i.e. within the…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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Can a US president secretly pardon themselves?
I've seen quite a few widely-circulated tweets saying that Trump doesn't have to announce pardons, and we might not find out he's pardoned himself (or family members) until/unless they are indicted. (Example tweet)
Is this true? How is the record…
thosphor
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If elected, could Jo Jorgensen practically/theoretically pardon everybody convicted of victimless crime?
Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party candidate for US president in 2020, has said that if elected, she would pardon anyone convicted of a victimless crime.
Ignoring the fact that Congress would impeach her, that she might be lying, and that her…
NoSenseEtAl
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Does accepting a pardon have any bearing on trying that person for the same crime in a sovereign jurisdiction?
In the United States, accepting a pardon is an admission to the crime. In Burdick_v._United_States, the majority opinion stated that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it."
The United States has dual sovereignty.…
DrSheldon
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How are presidential pardons supposed to be used?
When and how are pardons supposed to be used? Why does the Constitution even grant the president the power to pardon? Can it be used to pardon any crime?
On the surface, it seems to make the president above the law. CNN just reported that president…
user27343
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Validity of presidential orders "signed" with an "autopen" machine
The possible use of an autopen is a controversial topic that U.S. President Donald Trump has recently brought up again with respect to U.S. President Joe Biden's pardons.
What formal requirements are there, if any, for a presidential order? As an…
Peter - Reinstate Monica
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Can President of the United States pardon himself if convicted of treason or some other wrong doing?
I wanted to know whether the POTUS could pardon himself if he/she is criminally charged with treason or some other wrong doing.
Aashish Loknath Panigrahi
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Could Ross Ulbricht be charged by non-US court after pardon?
After President Trump's pardon, could Ross Ulbricht still be charged by non-US courts for crimes related to Silk Road, e.g., for crimes it facilitated outside the US? If so, would he be extradited?
Related
Could Ross Ulbricht from Silk Road not…
Kvothe
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If the president pardons you for illegally entering the country, can you begin immigration paperwork immediately?
This is a hypothetical:
The president has a right to pardon any federal crime. If the president pardons you for illegally entering the country, can you begin immigration proceedings as having never entered the country illegally?
Just to be…
Evan Carroll
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Can pardons be discriminatory?
Suppose a president decided to pardon every white inmate in Federal prisons, while letting all other inmates remain incarcerated.
(Not necessarily a reference to current events)
This seems blatantly illegal, but what recourse would the remaining…
SegNerd
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