# Presidential pardon power in District of Columbia

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-pardon-power-in-district-of-columbia/930264>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 11, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-pardon-power-in-district-of-columbia/930264 "2021-01-11T16:05:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-pardon-power-in-district-of-columbia/930264/1 "2021-01-11T16:05:03Z")

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Of the persons charged so far in the January 6 insurrection, some have been charged in Federal court and some in the DC Superior Court. The presidential pardon power would clearly apply to the charges in Federal court, but does it extend to charges filed in the DC Superior Court? Or would such charges be similar to local or state charges and outside of the president’s jurisdiction?

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-pardon-power-in-district-of-columbia/930264/2 "2021-01-11T16:30:10Z")

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The president is generally recognized to have the power to issue pardons in such cases. The reason why this should be so is somewhat complicated. See [this letter](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53ce893fe4b076d747fd326e/t/53d6b7f9e4b0d47dc085ba57/1406580729050/DCletter2.pdf) by Roger C. Adams, who was then (in 2001) the DoJ Pardon Attorney.