# Could Bush pardon everybody? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 12, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166 "2003-01-12T18:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@barton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/1 "2003-01-12T18:52:14Z")
Ryan’s stunt made me think. The President can pardon anyone, right? Hypothetical scenario - Bush decides to pardon every sentence of every inmate in the country. Does he have the authority to do so? Would he have to sign a form for every inmate or could he do a blanket order? Would he have authority only over federal charges or both fed and state convictions? If he does have the authority, is there any recourse that can belay his pardons? I’m not sure if impeachment could negate a pardon. I’m sure the Justice Department would throw a fit, but the Attorney General serves at the President’s whim. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/2 "2003-01-12T18:54:16Z")
That’s a bit of a Giant Squid, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/3 "2003-01-12T19:32:19Z")
Bush only has the power to pardon for _federal_ offenses. Since most death row inmates were convicted for state law offenses (capital murder, typically), Bush couldn’t do a darned thing for most of them. But at the federal level, the pardon power is granted the President in the Constitution and is pretty much absolute. It’s one of the few truly unchecked powers in our system of government. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/4 "2003-01-12T19:36:24Z")
Dewey I’m glad you checked in. When Harry Browne was running for pres on the LP ticket, his platform included the pardoning of all nonviolent (or noncoercive) federal offenders. Are you saying that he actually could have done that had he won the election? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/5 "2003-01-12T19:47:50Z")
Yep. I’m not sure what the limits of the pardon power are for past offenses where a conviction hasn’t yet been secured, but given Ford’s pardon of Nixon and draft dodgers and Bush’s pardon of some Iran-Contra participants (IIRC), I’d suspect the president can even do that to some extent. But he unquestionably has absolute power to pardon for federal convictions. Of course, he can’t pardon for _future_ offenses – that would be essentially giving the President unilateral legislative power. And, of course, the big limit is it only applies to the federal system. Violate a state possession law and you’re screwed, unless you’ve also got a LP governor with the pardon power. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/6 "2003-01-12T19:58:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Are you saying that he actually could have done that had he won the election? \*\* Not only does he have that power, he has it for a very good reason. Absent that power, the very real possibility of persecution of those who support the president by his opposition exists. All they would have to do is put those people who support the current administration and who have the power and inclination to support him in prison on trumped-up charges, and the entire outcome of an election could change. Any president that would abuse that power runs the very real risk of destroying support for his political party. Example:Bill Clinton. Another example:Gerald Ford. Both of these presidents made questionable pardons, and their parties paid the price. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/7 "2003-01-13T00:00:40Z")
George H. W. Bush pardoned convicted Pakistani heroin dealer Aslam Adam on his last day or two in office, but for some reason, didn’t seem to catch any heat (_lots_ more people know about Clinton’s equally heinous pardon of fugitive Marc Rich). Guess the liberal media all called in sick that day… 😃 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Czarcasm \* > \*\* > > (snip) > > Example:Bill Clinton. Another example:Gerald Ford. Both of these presidents made questionable pardons, and their parties paid the price. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/8 "2003-01-13T00:03:12Z")
Ford pardoned draft dodgers? I thought that was Carter. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\* > > (snip) > > Ford’s pardon of Nixon and draft dodgers > > (snip) > > \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bush-pardon-everybody/148166/9 "2003-01-13T05:19:27Z")
Might’ve been Carter – I admit my memory’s a little fuzzy on that one. Doesn’t affect my point, though.