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The US Constitution grants presidents the right to pardon or commute sentences of those who have committed crimes, including themselves. The Office of the Pardon Attorney reviews pardon requests and makes recommendations. Other countries also have presidential pardon laws. Past presidential pardons have been controversial, but some have been seen as being in the best interests of the country.
A presidential pardon, under the United States constitution, is the right given to presidents to pardon others for committing crimes, to commute the sentences of those who have committed crimes, or to extend pardons to those who may be accused of crimes. Notable past presidential pardons include President Ford’s pardon of President Nixon, President Clinton’s presidential pardon of Mark Rich, and President George W. Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison term. These decisions have not always been popular, but the right to exercise a presidential pardon is written into the US Constitution.
Paraphrasing the rights under Article II, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, the president can pardon anyone, commute sentences, or change sentences for anyone, unless he is impeached. Under the current interpretation of this law, a presidential pardon extends to the president himself and can be used even if a person has not yet been charged with “crimes against the United States.” So a presidential pardon can be used not only to overturn convictions, but also to protect people from prosecution.
There have been numerous presidential pardon decisions that have been in the best interests of the United States, at least as perceived by some historians. The decisions to pardon leaders and generals in the Confederate States at the end of the Civil War were intended to help promote peace between the states as the southern states that seceded were once again part of the Union. President Jimmy Carter pardoned those who had avoided the draft during the Vietnam War in hopes that many citizens could go home. His decision was not particularly popular with those who had served in Vietnam, but it was popular with many who had protested the war.
In the United States, presidents regularly receive pardon requests from individuals or groups. The average rate of pardons granted is about 10% of those requested, or about 60 pardons a year. To handle the number of pardon requests, the Office of the Pardon Attorney reviews pardons and makes recommendations to the president about which petitions might be worthy. In most cases, the president can only issue presidential pardons for people who have committed federal crimes. Many governors have the right to pardon people accused of state crimes.
Some form of pardon laws exist in a number of countries, not just the United States. France, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, India, Iran, the United Kingdom and many other countries have presidential pardon laws or laws that allow their leaders to exercise the right to a pardon. As in the United States, governments that are subdivided into territories or states can grant pardon rights to local authorities, such as state governors, as well as allow a country’s president or leader to grant large pardons. The degree to which presidential pardons exist and are granted depends on a variety of circumstances and laws governing each country.
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