PARDON POWER: Snowden Pardon ScorecardPardon Power

TERMS TO KNOW

AMNESTY - A general or group pardon that is usually granted before conviction. This power is most commonly associated with post-war clemency, for draft evasion, sedition or other violations of selective service laws. Amnesties may or may not be conditional

CLEMENCY - At the federal level, this is a broad term which is interpreted to include all of the other terms defined in this section. Sometimes, "clemency" is described as "the pardon power," which is acceptable, so long as it is understood that, formally speaking, a pardon is one of several forms of clemency. Clemency powers can be found in all three branches of the federal government (executive, legislative and judicial). At the state level, "clemency" is sometimes meant to be synonymous with "commutation." Thus "clemency" is used to release indivduals from prison. "Pardons" in such states are used to restore the civil rights of those who have already served their time.

COMMUTATION - A reduction in the severity of a punishment that is commonly confused with a pardon. Commutations reduce the length of a sentence or the amount of a fine. Perhaps the most high-profile commutations are those that change a death sentence to life in prison, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Commutations can be controversial if the "reduction" is, arguably, not a reduction. Imagine a 2-year sentence being commuted to a $900,000 fine. Is that really a reduction in the severity of the punishment? Commutations can have conditions attached. Supreme Court decisions appear to suggest that commutations of sentence cannot be refused. Although there was a time when commutations were granted more frequently than pardons, they are very rarely granted today.

EXPUNGEMENT - Each state is free to define expungement as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of expungement. See also "sealing" (below)

PARDON - The removal of all disability or punishment. Pardons may be granted before or after conviction. Today, they are usually granted in order to restore civil rights (the right to vote, hold public office, participate in a jury, own a firearm, etc.). Pardons can have conditions attached. There has been a steady decline in the granting of pardons since 1900 whether one looks at the raw number of pardons, the percentage of applications that result in pardons or the percentage of presidential clemency decisions which result in pardons. There has, however, been a more accelerated decline since the late 1960s.

REMISSION - Most often, remissions were devices used to remove fines and forfeitures. In some instances, however, the word remit was used to simply remove (as opposed to reducing) a portion of a sentence. Today, federal clemency statistics do not even count remissions as a separate category of clemency decisions.

REPRIEVE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Sometimes used as a synonym for "stay." See Respite, below.

RESPITE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Typically, respites are granted for a specific number of days (30 to 60) but they have often been followed by additional respites and have also been granted in an entirely open-ended fashion (as in, "We will get back to you, when we can."). Today, the word "reprieve" is more likely to be used for an act of clemency that delays punishment.

SEALING - Each state is free to define sealing as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of sealing. See also "expungement" (above).

Supporting Pardon

ACLU
Amnesty International
Jack Dorsey
Barry Eisler (TIME)
Danny Glover
Human Rights Watch
Mathew Ingram (Fortune)
The Intercept

Nick Osborne (Boston Globe)

Rieder (USA Today)
Romero (L.A. Times)
Roth and Shetty (New York Times)
Susan Sarandan
Michael Shank (USA Today)
Martin Sheen
Jill Stein
Oliver Stone
Margaret Sullivan (Denver Post)
Trevor Timm (Guardian)
Jonathan Turley
Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia)
Steve Wozniak (Apple)

Opposing Pardon

Chicago Sun Times
Chicago Tribune
James Clapper
Russ Feingold
Michael Goodwin (New York Post)
House Committee
Fred Kaplan (Slate)
Patrick Murphy
National Review
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Rand Paul
Bernie Sanders
Debra Saunders (San Francisco Chronicle)
Marco Rubio
Rep. Chris Stewart
Washington Post

Notable Visitors

378,960 Executive Office of the President of the United States

378,918 Executive Office of the President of the United States

378,837 Executive Office of the President of the United States

377,597 Executive Office of the President of the United States

377,578 Executive Office of the President of the United States

377,345 Executive Office of the President of the United States

374,952 Executive Office of the President of the United States

374,927 Executive Office of the President of the United States

374,755 Executive Office of the President of the United States

369,805 Executive Office of the President of the United States

369,485 Executive Office of the President of the United States

352,329 Executive Office of the President of the United States

349,651 Executive Office of the President of the United States

346,068 Executive Office of the President of the United States

345,947 U.S. Department of State

344,600 Executive Office of the President of the United States

344,592 Executive Office of the President of the United States

343,275 The Pentagon

341,376 Executive Office of the President of the United States

335,159 Executive Office of the President of the United States

335,038 Executive Office of the President of the United States

334,835 U.S.House of Representatives

334,574 Executive Office of the President of the United States

332,860 Executive Office of the President of the United States

332,752 Executive Office of the President of the United States

332,696 Executive Office of the President of the United States

331,328 Executive Office of the President of the United States

330,505 Executive Office of the President of the United States

329,250 Executive Office of the President of the United States

323,267 Executive Office of the President of the United States

315,827 Democratic National Headquarters

315,392 Executive Office of the President of the United States

314,408 Executive Office of the President of the United States

311,127 U.S.House of Representatives

311,036 Executive Office of the President of the United States

300,300 U.S.House of Representatives

287,512 Executive Office of the President of the United States

287,496 Executive Office of the President of the United States

247,595 Executive Office of the President of the United States

243,275 Executive Office of the President of the United States

220,411 U.S. House of Representatives

211,671 U.S. Supreme Court

209,358 U.S. House of Representatives

209,206 Executive Office of the President of the United States

204,115 U.S. House of Representatives

202,901 U.S.Supreme Court

198,272 U.S. House of Representatives

196,401 The Pentagon

196,005 Executive Office of the President of the United States

191,414 Central Intelligence Agency

186,739 Administrative Office, U.S. Courts

185,111 Administrative Office, U.S. Courts

185,003 U.S. Department of State

184,282 U.S. Supreme Court

183,619 U.S. Department of State

1183,482 Administrative Office, U.S. Courts

PARDON POWER

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Snowden Pardon Scorecard

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PARDON POWER

ABOUT ...

RECENT MEDIA GIGS

MEDIA RECOGNITION

PARDON EXPERTS

COMMENTARY / RESEARCH

ONLINE BOOKSHELF

MULTI MEDIA LINKS

NOTABLE CASE LAW

TERMS TO KNOW

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Monday, September 19, 2016

Snowden Pardon Scorecard

2 comments:

Subscribe To

Follow Us Via

ABA Honoree

Pardon O. Henry !

POSTS by PRESIDENT

POSTS by STATE

ARCHIVES

OTHER CATEGORIES

OUR GUESTS

StatCounter

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OTHER GREAT BLOGS

Notable Visitors

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