# The Obama pardon drought. Is Obama being too stingy with clemency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111 "2010-11-01T18:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/21 "2010-12-04T05:34:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If we want to see him working we need to get cable so we can watch the The Daily Show and Myth Busters. You’d never know there was 10% unemployment. Yep, he is there every week, isn’t he. That is another unfair argument, especially since Bush set a new level of presidential vacations. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/22 "2010-12-04T14:18:37Z")
I’m surprised how many cocaine-dealers Obama is letting go - I would have expected pot to be the strongest illegal drug to get presidential sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/23 "2010-12-04T18:36:43Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I’m surprised how many cocaine-dealers Obama is letting go - I would have expected pot to be the strongest illegal drug to get presidential sympathy. He’s not the first. By my count, Bush pardoned 14 people convicted of offenses related to cocaine, and commuted the sentences of four more. I don’t know anything about the individual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/24 "2010-12-04T18:46:36Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I’m surprised how many cocaine-dealers Obama is letting go - I would have expected pot to be the strongest illegal drug to get presidential sympathy. I wonder how many people are in Club Fed _only_ for pot-related offenses, not cocaine/crack dealing and/or violent offenses as well. The hemp-heads talk a lot about the poor naive teenager with a joint at a concert who is doing thirty years at hard labor, but I imagine they are not common in federal prison. State, maybe. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/25 "2010-12-04T21:07:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > what is a “felony liquor violation”? Drinking underage whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/26 "2010-12-04T21:45:15Z")
a misdemeanour only, surely? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/27 "2010-12-05T04:09:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > a misdemeanour only, surely? Maybe, if the whiskey lied about its age, dressing all grown-up and slutty and such. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/28 "2010-12-05T14:28:47Z")
Wait till the last night of Obama’s term-he’ll outdo Clinton! ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/29 "2010-12-05T15:26:59Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I’m surprised how many cocaine-dealers Obama is letting go You think he’s setting up new connections for after he’s out? (Isn’t he an admitted user, or maybe it was dealer?) ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/30 "2010-12-05T20:54:46Z")
Someone help me out here, because after reading that pardon list I’m really confused. Every one of those pardons was for a crime committed a long time ago involving a sentence that has presumably already been implemented. Presumably nobody’s getting out of jail because of these presidential pardons. In the coin-mutilation case the fellow applied for a pardon after he found himself unable to purchase a gun because he was a convicted felon. Beyond that, no reasons were given (in the article) for the other pardons. Wait a minute - I’ve got it now! Obama is secretly a pawn of the NRA!!! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/31 "2010-12-06T07:49:21Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Wait till the last night of Obama’s term-he’ll outdo Clinton! :rolleyes: > [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > You think he’s setting up new connections for after he’s out? Yes, you’ve figured it out. A brilliant deduction. Thank you for your service, **Mr Smashy**. He admitted he did cocaine a few times in college, but must’ve had trouble finding a new connection after he graduated. So he realized the best way to set up a new connection was to get himself elected president and pardon some guys who got busted for selling cocaine decades ago. _It’s almost too simple._ > [@sevenwood](#): > > Someone help me out here, because after reading that pardon list I’m really confused. Every one of those pardons was for a crime committed a long time ago involving a sentence that has presumably already been implemented. Presumably nobody’s getting out of jail because of these presidential pardons. The idea is to clear their records, not get them out of jail. [This story says the White House didn’t provide any comments on why these people were pardoned](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_pardons) beyond this quote: > [@](#): > > “The president was moved by the strength of the applicants’ post-conviction efforts at atonement, as well as their superior citizenship and individual achievements in the years since their convictions,” said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/32 "2010-12-06T15:15:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Clemency is a power that _should_ be used stingily. It’s intended as a last resort to correct major errors of justice (see George Ryan in Illinois), not to get your friends out of jail. I believe Governor Ryan thought the capital punishment process was unjust and corrupt because every aspect of government he touched was. This was true for contracts and leases, and was especially true for truck licenses. You can ask Governor Ryan about this, after he gets out of federal prison. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/33 "2010-12-06T15:18:41Z")
Ryan was a crook, no doubt about it. He still made the right decision by commuting those death sentences. And it’s arguable that only a politician with nothing to lose would have made that call. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/34 "2010-12-06T15:48:11Z")
It is also arguable that, being a crook himself, he sympathized with other crooks. Or he wanted an issue to distract the voters from his defalcations. Or perhaps his judgment about what constitutes justice or injustice was hopelessly distorted. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/35 "2010-12-06T16:21:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It is also arguable that, being a crook himself, he sympathized with other crooks. Perhaps. I don’t think any other Illinois governors did what he did, and we know he’s not the only one of them who went to jail. > [@](#): > > Or he wanted an issue to distract the voters from his defalcations. He was on his way out of office at the time, but yes, he certainly didn’t want people to remember only as a crook. > [@](#): > > Or perhaps his judgment about what constitutes justice or injustice was hopelessly distorted. In which he case he had an abundance of company. Ryan aside, I suppose expectations for presidential pardons were reset after the Marc Rich scandal. Bush didn’t hand out many of them compared to other presidents (he only commuted Scotter Libby’s sentence, and he shouldn’t have even done that), and if Obama follows suit, that can’t be a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/36 "2010-12-06T16:25:12Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Here’s a fact which seems to have escaped much media attention: Obama has been in office for nearly two years, and he hasn’t issued [even a single pardon or commutation](http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/07/obamas-pardon-drought-ranks-as-one-of-the-longest-in-u-s-history/). > > I understand Obama not wanting to appear like a stereotypical soft on crime liberal (and wanting to avoid any negative attack ads for 2012), but I believe that the Constitution gave the Executive the pardon power for a good reason, and that there are surely a number of persons in this country greater than 0 that deserve some forgiveness for their past crimes. Not my area of expertise, but can’t governors pardon state crimes? That would leave Obama as the only hope for people convicted of federal crimes, and how many of them really deserve a pardon? Not a comment on that possibility, I just don’t know of any. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/37 "2010-12-06T19:53:45Z")
I would have thought there were at least a few instances where Obama could commute federal sentences on crack cocaine to bring them in line with comparable amounts of powder cocaine. It would empty a lot of rooms in our federal prisons if we did just that. of course if we got rid of mandatory drug sentencing guidelines we would virtually empty out our federal prisons. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/38 "2010-12-06T20:11:36Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I would have thought there were at least a few instances where Obama could commute federal sentences on crack cocaine to bring them in line with comparable amounts of powder cocaine. It would empty a lot of rooms in our federal prisons if we did just that. of course if we got rid of mandatory drug sentencing guidelines we would virtually empty out our federal prisons. That’s a good point, but commuting a sentence isn’t a pardon. I assume those people commited crimes (not necessarily what I would make a crime, but what the majority might still consider as crimes), so that isn’t the cirumstances for a pardon. I thought pardons were intended for people who were unjustly convicted, convicted of unjust laws, had a really good excuse, or big campaign contributors. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111/39 "2010-12-06T20:15:04Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I would have thought there were at least a few instances where Obama could commute federal sentences on crack cocaine to bring them in line with comparable amounts of powder cocaine. That would probably be a counterproductive way of drawing attention to that issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-pardon-drought-is-obama-being-too-stingy-with-clemency/559111.md?page=1)