"The U.S. Constitution states, "The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." (U.S. Const., art. II, § 2, cl. 1.) This language gives the president broad pardoning power, with very few limitations. (Schick v. Reed, 419 U.S. 256 (1974).) Moreover, the pardon power is the president's alone—the president's decision to grant a pardon cannot be overturned by Congress or the courts."
I believe your source is incorrect. Carter pardoned over 200K drafted dodgers after the Vietnam War. Confederate soldiers also got pardons, but I don't recall the number or which president.
Biden did issue a blanket pardon for certain marijuana convictions, which accounts for over 6000 of his pardons.
But when it comes to individual pardons, Biden had less than half of Trump or Obama.
Commutation is not a pardon. Biden is opposed to the death penalty and is following his conscience, especially since Trump said he would speed up executions. I have no opinion on this.
Thank you. The question, however, unless I misread it, is whether a pardon can be overturned. In the case of Carter, he didn't overturn pardons - he initiated them. Am I reading this wrong?
No, commutation is not a pardon. The distinction is missed by some.
This post was edited by Spunky at December 24, 2024 12:59 PM MST
No, you are correct. I was just looking for an explanation of how Biden supposedly issued more pardons than all other presidents combined, given the fact that the last number I heard, was, I believe, 65. It makes sense to not count Carters blanket pardon, but the number shown for Biden then shouldn't include blanket pardons either. So, I am puzzled.
The Dept of Justice has the stats and they do not count pardons/communtations/etc that are issued via executive orders or Presidential proclamations, so Ford and Carters are not in the stats.
So if that is the case, Biden's blanket pardon for pot violations would not be counted in his numbers.
Jane S 