presidential pardons

I am not sure if this has been asked before, but can the President or a state governor pardon himself? If I am the president and decide to strangle someone, can I simply write myself a “get out of jail free” pass?


what?

In the case of the US president, no.

United States Constitution, Article II
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Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
[/quote]

(bolding mine)
I imagine that state constitutions carry the same provision.

So, the upshot of this is, yes, the president can pardon himself for his crimes, except for his own impeachment.
The California Consitution rules for pardons is similar to the US Constitution (with some exceptions regarding people with multiple convictions.)

In some states, but not CA, you are automatically disqualified from office if you are convicted of a felony.

The president, in theory, could pardon himself for any acts that may have been criminal in the past, even if there weren’t any indictments issued for them.

At least, that’s how I read it.

But if he can serve out his term without being impeached, can a pardon make him invulnerable to future prosecution?

Again, I’m only guessing, but I would assume that Clinton could issue a blanket pardon for himself that would cover his whole 8 years in office. He could probably go back further if he wanted to.

In practice, this doesn’t happen because the political fallout would be so great for the person doing it. Clinton would be saying to people, “Yep, I did something wrong and I’m getting away with it.” It’s not a good way to be remembered in history.

I did some digging around and in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. The author of that article said that the President couldn’t pardon himself.
Apparently, Madison addressed in one of the Federalist Papers. He implied that a president who used his pardon powers to pardon himself or an accomplise would be guilty of a high crime and then would most likely be impeached.
Clinton did state that he would not pardon himself and he wouldn’t accept a pardon from Gore if he had had to resign or been impeached.
The article was the Spring 1999 issue and the author was Randall K. Miller.

Okay, but what’s the maximum punishment for impeachment? I mean, if I just killed a guy, I’d be happy to pardon myself and let 'em impeach me for it, if it meant doing no time or much less time.

If the president murders someone, pardons himself, and then gets impeached for pardoning himself, he would be likely prosecuted for conspiracy to commit murder or something like that.

There would also be wrongful death suits and such to contend with.

Unless the president killed someone in violation of one of the (increasing and intrusive) Federal criminal statutes, he could not pardon himself for murder. If, for example, he shot someone while visiting Arlington, his crime would be in violation of Virginia statutes and he would have no authority to pardon himself.

Even if commiting a murder in D.C., I am not 100% sure, but I believe that the president has no executive authority, there. (The laws are passed by congress, but the city is still run by a mayor.)


Tom~

The “punishment” for impeachment is removal from office. There’s no possibility of imprisonment involved. So theoretically, the President could commit a felony, pardon himself for it, almost certainly be impeached for such a blatent abuse of power, and probably face some civil actions (which are limited to financial reparations). So, yes, I’d say a President can get away with murder, assuming you define “getting away” as meaning not going to prison.

Note that “impeachment” is similar to indictment: It is a formal accusation of a crime, not a conviction. In the case of the US Constitution, The House first impeaches an officer. Then the Senate tries the impeachment, and either acquits or convicts.

President Clinton was actually impeached, but the Senate acquitted him, and thus he was not removed from office.

There was some speculation as to whether Clinton might pardon himself. Since the issue has never been brought before the Supreme Court, it is not certain whether the President can indeed actually pardon himself.


He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’