# Can the president / Governor pardon a person who isn't charged yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 9, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081 "2001-01-09T00:26:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![home\_schooled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@home\_schooled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/home_schooled)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/1 "2001-01-09T00:26:42Z")
Let’s say a Ken Starr-type guy is investigating Ross Perot for years on end without making a charge. Can George W. pardon him, to pay back for his support during the election? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/2 "2001-01-09T01:02:36Z")
I want to know if Clinton will pardon himself before he leaves. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/3 "2001-01-09T01:07:09Z")
IIRC, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon before Nixon was charged with any specific crime regarding Watergate. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/4 "2001-01-09T13:02:09Z")
President Nixon resigned after the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend Articles of Impeachment to the full House. When President Ford took office, Nixon had not been charged with any crime, nor had the full House even voted to impeach him, his resignation having stopped that process. President Ford pardoned Nixon for “…all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9,1974.” - Rick ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/5 "2001-01-09T13:45:44Z")
Agreeing with Bricker, and noting that the presidential pardon was used for Nixon (as it would presumably be used for Clinton) to prevent any further investigation into the alleged wrong-doings. President Ford stated that he granted the pardon to heal the wounds, and that he thought further investigation would only prolong divisiveness. One assumes that Ford felt Nixon was already punished by having been effectively compelled to resign the Presidency in disgrace. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/6 "2001-01-09T16:06:57Z")
But was Ford’s pardon _legal_? In other words, is there statutory authority to give such a pardon, or judicial precedent upholding prior similar pardons? Or did everyone just decide that if there were to be a challenge to a pre-emptive pardon, this would be a poor test case? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/7 "2001-01-09T17:18:19Z")
The intensity of reaction when Ford pardoned Nixon was so intense that someone would have run right to the Supreme Court if there had been any doubt of its legality. I like to compare it to granting immunity to a State’s Wintess. If that person hadn’t been charged with anything yet, the immunity is still in place. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-governor-pardon-a-person-who-isnt-charged-yet/49081/8 "2001-01-09T18:18:09Z")
According to the info I found at this site: [http://jodyb.net/school/pardons.html](http://jodyb.net/school/pardons.html) The president can pardon anybody as long as the person was not impeached. Also, the Supreme Court has ruled that a person cannot reject a pardon. That was decided in the case of Biddle v. Perovich in 1927. The right to issue pardons at any time by the President was upheld in the case of Ex parte Garland in 1867.