About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


12 U. St. Thomas L.J. 446 (2015-2016)
Preparing the Pardon Power for the 21st Century

handle is hein.journals/usthomlj12 and id is 451 raw text is: ARTICLE PREPARING THE PARDON POWER FOR THE 21ST CENTURY P.S. RucIGiAN JR.* I. INTRODUCTION In the following pages, I aim to review what the literature of political science has to say about the topic of reform of state and federal clemency processes. I then share what I would like to see change with respect to federal executive clemency. Admittedly, much of my thinking is influenced by the views of predecessors in my discipline. I then identify what I believe should be explicit goals and baselines for future assessment of the pardon power. As a contextual matter, it is important to note that, at the time this article was written, Barack Obama was well into the seventh year of his presidency. At the close of 2015, his sixty-four pardons (which simply re- stored civil rights) and eighty-nine commutations (which reduced the length of prison sentences) render his administration one of the least merciful in history. Most of the very few (eight) presidents who have exercised clem- ency less than Obama have either served a single term or died before com- pleting one.' In addition, President Obama has denied a record 9,007 clemency applications,2 and 2,841 more have been closed without presi- dential action.3 * Professor of Political Science, Rock Valley College, Rockford, IL. Editor, Pardon Power Blog. Any errors of fact or interpretation herein are my own. 1. P.S. Ruckman Jr., Obama to Blaze Past Franklin Pierce, PARDON POWER BLOG (July 13, 2015), http://www.pardonpower.com/2015/07/obama-to-blaze-past-franklin-pierce.html. The only presidents who have granted fewer pardons are W.H. Harrison, 1841 (3); James Garfield, 1881 (5); George Washington, 1789-1797 (31); John Adams, 1797-1801 (37); Zachary Taylor, 1849-1950 (43); George H.W. Bush, 1988-1992 (77); Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809 (129); and Franklin Pierce 1853-1857 (146). William H. Harrison died on April 4, 1841, only a month after stepping into the Office of the Presidency. James Garfield was assassinated after serving only four months. Zachary Taylor died of food poisoning after serving only sixteen months in office. 2. Office of the Pardon Attorney, Clemency Statistics: Barack Obama, DEP'T OF JUST., http://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-statistics (last visited Mar. 24, 2016) (noting 1,629 appli- cations for pardons and 7,378 for commutations of sentence as of the end of 2015). 3. Id. (listing 467 applications for pardons and 2,374 for commutations of sentence). 446