Pardons and Commutations Under President Trump
editAs of this writing, President Trump has granted four commutations of sentences and seven pardons, one of which being a posthumous pardon.[1] President Trump had broken with tradition when he first granted a full unconditional pardon to Joe Arpaio early into his first term as President. Trump also later granted a full unconditional, posthumous pardon to John "Jack" Arthur, who was sentenced in 1920.
It is not uncommon for Presidents to deny petitions for clemency. President Trump has denied 82 requests for pardons and 98 requests for commutations as of this writing.[2] Compared to other Presidents,Trump has issued the least amount of denials of petitions in the first 12 months of office since George H. W. Bush except for Barack Obama.[3] Although President Obama issued zero denials his first year in office, he would end his second term with the greatest number of petition denials across all Presidents.
Posthumous Pardons
editPosthumous pardons are usually rare because it is generally Department of Justice policy to not accept requests for non living persons.[4] This is due to the limited resources and personnel at the Department of Justice, and cases involving living persons take precedent over those who are deceased. The same procedure and reasoning is applied to clemency applications for federal misdemeanors, giving precedent to cases involving federal felony convictions. This structure is designed to allow the DOJ to devote its time to those who will receive the greatest benefit from Federal clemency. Presidents Clinton, W. Bush, and Trump are the only 3 to have granted posthumous pardons.[5]
| Pardon | Commutation | |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Carter (1 term) | 638 | 673 |
| Ronald Reagan (2 term) | 969 | 318 |
| George H. W. Bush (1 term) | 676 | 429 |
| Bill Clinton (2 term) | 655 | 2,387 |
| George W. Bush (2 term) | 1,729 | 7,498 |
| Barack Obama (2 term) | 1,708 | 18,749 |
| Donald Trump (19.5 Months) | 82 | 98 |
| Date | Name | Offense | Form of Clemency |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 20,2017 | Sholom Rubashkin | Bank fraud; false statements and reports to a bank; wire fraud; mail fraud; money laundering and aiding and abetting; willful violation of Secretary of Agriculture and aiding and abetting | Commutation |
| August 25, 2017 | Joseph M. Arpaio | Contempt of court | Pardon |
| March 9, 2018 | Kristian Mark Saucier | Unauthorized retention of defense information | Pardon |
| April 13, 2018 | Lewis "Scooter" Libby | Obstruction of justice; false statements; perjury | Pardon |
| May 24, 2018 | John Arthur Johnson | Violation of the White Slave Traffic Act | Pardon (Posthumous) |
| May 31, 2018 | Dinesh D'Souza | Campaign contribution fraud | Pardon |
| June 6, 2018 | Alice Marie Johnson | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; attempted possession of 12 kilograms of cocaine with intent to deliver; attempted possession of 9 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute; attempted possession of 75 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute; attempted possession of 10 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute; conspiracy to commit money laundering; money laundering; structuring monetary transactions | Commutation |
| July 10, 2018 | Dwight Lincoln Hammond | Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United States | Pardon/Commutation |
| July 10, 2018 | Steven Dwight Hammond | Use of fire to damage and destroy property of the United States | Pardon/Commutation |
- ^ "Office of the Pardon Attorney". 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
- ^ "Office of the Pardon Attorney". 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
- ^ "Clemency Statistics". 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
- ^ "Policies". 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
- ^ "Policies". 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
Further reading
editCrouch, Jeffrey. (May 26, 2009). "The Presidential Pardon Power"
University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700616466.
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