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The International Bar Association (IBA) raised alarm on Friday regarding President Donald Trump’s latest actions that included pardons issued to approximately 1,500 individuals who were either convicted or charged in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, pardons issued to 14 militia organization members, and a “blanket pardon” for many others.
Trump had also followed up the above-noted pardons with additional pardons in the last three months to pro-life activists who blockaded abortion clinic entrances, and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who was convicted on corruption charges in 2011.
Acknowledging that there “can be no doubt that [presidents] had the constitutional power to issue the pardons,” IBA Criminal Law Committee Co-Chair Matt Kaiser stated that there was an expectation under the Constitution that the president wield such a power in the public or national interest. Kaiser stated that Trump’s pardons have fallen short of that expectation.
Harold Kent, professor at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law further added that politicians are expected to serve the public as opposed to themselves and accused the president of wielding the pardon power to benefit close friends and / or supporters. Kent extended his criticism to former president Joe Biden who pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, during his final weeks in office for federal tax and firearm violations. That pardon enabled Hunter Biden to avoid prison time. Biden had also issued pardons to his siblings James Biden and Valerie Owens, and other family members.
Rachel Goodman, counsel for the nonprofit Protect Democracy, said that Trump “has really broken new ground within that context by using the pardon power to license violence and lawbreaking on his behalf and to otherwise empower his henchmen.”
It is not entirely unusual for presidents to use their pardoning powers to shorten sentences or forgive them altogether. Former president Barack Obama issued pardons during his term to many individuals convicted of nonviolent drug-related offenses. However, according to Kaiser, self-interested pardons such as these raise serious concerns regarding violations of the Rule of Law because it essentially licenses illegal conduct
Rule of Law requires that legal systems and decisions be predictable so that individuals can rely on them to make decisions and resolve disputes. This concept also requires that the same laws apply to everyone—government officials and ordinary private citizens alike. According to Kaiser, the US Supreme Court ruling last year giving the president broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts did no favors to this concept as it essentially endorsed the president’s power to not follow the law in some extreme cases.
Goodman suggests that these kinds of pardons cry out for a constitutional amendment to curtail the president’s ability to issue “self-dealing” pardons. However, while Kaiser shares Goodman’s concerns, he is not in favor of reforms that would place limits on the president’s pardoning powers. According to Kaiser, presidential pardons serve as an important check on excessive judicial sentencing and congressional actions: “Yes, it can be abused…But I wouldn’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water and try to limit a president’s ability to show compassion and mercy through the pardon power.”
The post International Bar Association raises alarm over Trump’s latest pardons appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Trump had also followed up the above-noted pardons with additional pardons in the last three months to pro-life activists who blockaded abortion clinic entrances, and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich who was convicted on corruption charges in 2011.
Acknowledging that there “can be no doubt that [presidents] had the constitutional power to issue the pardons,” IBA Criminal Law Committee Co-Chair Matt Kaiser stated that there was an expectation under the Constitution that the president wield such a power in the public or national interest. Kaiser stated that Trump’s pardons have fallen short of that expectation.
Harold Kent, professor at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law further added that politicians are expected to serve the public as opposed to themselves and accused the president of wielding the pardon power to benefit close friends and / or supporters. Kent extended his criticism to former president Joe Biden who pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, during his final weeks in office for federal tax and firearm violations. That pardon enabled Hunter Biden to avoid prison time. Biden had also issued pardons to his siblings James Biden and Valerie Owens, and other family members.
Rachel Goodman, counsel for the nonprofit Protect Democracy, said that Trump “has really broken new ground within that context by using the pardon power to license violence and lawbreaking on his behalf and to otherwise empower his henchmen.”
It is not entirely unusual for presidents to use their pardoning powers to shorten sentences or forgive them altogether. Former president Barack Obama issued pardons during his term to many individuals convicted of nonviolent drug-related offenses. However, according to Kaiser, self-interested pardons such as these raise serious concerns regarding violations of the Rule of Law because it essentially licenses illegal conduct
Rule of Law requires that legal systems and decisions be predictable so that individuals can rely on them to make decisions and resolve disputes. This concept also requires that the same laws apply to everyone—government officials and ordinary private citizens alike. According to Kaiser, the US Supreme Court ruling last year giving the president broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts did no favors to this concept as it essentially endorsed the president’s power to not follow the law in some extreme cases.
Goodman suggests that these kinds of pardons cry out for a constitutional amendment to curtail the president’s ability to issue “self-dealing” pardons. However, while Kaiser shares Goodman’s concerns, he is not in favor of reforms that would place limits on the president’s pardoning powers. According to Kaiser, presidential pardons serve as an important check on excessive judicial sentencing and congressional actions: “Yes, it can be abused…But I wouldn’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water and try to limit a president’s ability to show compassion and mercy through the pardon power.”
The post International Bar Association raises alarm over Trump’s latest pardons appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.