Re:Edward Snowden makes 'moral' case for presidential pardon
by BrandonY on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @01:56PM
(#12490687)
One more limitation: a Presidential pardon doesn't affect state laws. If, for instance, Snowden had committed some crime against the state that he was residing in, the President would not forgive it.
Re:Edward Snowden makes 'moral' case for presidential pardon
by lb1lf on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @02:12PM
(#12490815)
-Thank you; most educational (And exotic, seeing as we don't have anything like it around here - being a monarchy would be a lot more fun (and less democratic!) if the head of state held more power)
As things go, it can be argued that the King holds less privilege than his minions; suffrage does not extend to him, for instance. The job undeniably carries some perks, though.
Good thing presidential pardons does not extend to future crimes - that would be - ahem - interesting. Very much so.
Re:Edward Snowden makes 'moral' case for presidential pardon
by okwhatthe2 on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @12:57PM
(#12498934)
If I am elected president, I will pardon every criminal on the planet, on the condition they seek rehabilitation in community centers. I will also unconstitutionally use my executive powers to close all prisons, dictate human rights-based technology to be made, and end executive power for all time.
It is absolute.
> Can a US president basically compose an edict saying 'This man is a bleeding hero and no branch of the US government will ever hold any of his actions related to incident X against him, now or in the future or else they shall snuff it!' and have this respected by his successors?
No, a pardon only affects criminal prosecutions and punishments -- to the extent covered by the text of the pardon, any future prosecution (or continuation of existing prosecution) is barred, and any criminal punishment (including and disabilities imposed by past conviction) is terminated. It doesn't affect any other action by the government, including any civil action that might be available in law.
> Is it narrowly defined, eg. the pardonee (is that even a word) may not be prosecuted for his violation of US code such-and-such, section so-so committed on or before date DDMMYY? (Leaving any successor free to throw the book at him for anything not explicitly covered by the issued pardon?)
It can be as narrow or broad as the President chooses. About the only limit is that it is generally held (though this has never had occasion to be tested) that the Constitutional power of the pardon does not extend to prospective pardons (that is, a pardon cannot apply to offenses that occur after the pardon is issued.)