Presidential Pardons

Fixing the 'Façade of Concern'

Molly M. Gill | Posted 05.31.2012

Read More: Dafna Linzer, President Obama, Clarence Aaron, Clarence Aaron Case, Propublica, Commutations, Sam Morison, Presidential Pardons, Crime News

How could President Obama serve justice, show mercy, and correct appalling wrongdoing by a government official -- all without the approval of Congress? He could commute the sentence of Clarence Aaron.

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Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy

Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Pardons, White House, Video, Bush Administration, Clarence Aaron Case, Presidential Pardons, Prison, Prisoners, George W. Bush, Justice Department, Clarence Aaron, Ronald Rodgers, Crime News

ProPublica's Dafna Linzer reports: A version of this story was co-published with The Washington Post. Clarence Aaron seemed to be especially deservin...

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Who's to Blame for Pardon Abuse?

Mark Osler | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Pardons, Mississippi, Presidential Debates, Presidential Pardons, Haley Barbour, Mississippi Primary, Executive Pardons, Politics News

We repeatedly express surprise when this unilateral power is used and are quick to decry the lack of principle behind some uses of the pardon power. Yet we never ask how a candidate would use the pardon power during the election cycle?

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Pardoning Criminals -- Appropriate Mercy or Perverting Justice?

Bennett L. Gershman | Posted 03.19.2012

Read More: Murder, Presidential Pardons, Innocent, Clemency, Death Row, Nixon-Pardon, Crime News

In a day when so many miscarriages of justice have been exposed, particularly by way of indisputable proof of actual innocence, the guidelines for pardons should be far more stringent.

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What Can Be Done About Racial Disparities In Presidential Pardons?

Lois Beckett and Robin Respaut/ProPublica | Posted 12.09.2011

Read More: Executive Pardons, Racial Disparities, Department of Justice, Presidential Pardons, Racial Disparity, Racial Disparities in Presidential Pardons, Black Voices News

ProPublica's Lois Beckett and Robin Respaut report: If the government wants to correct racial disparity in presidential pardons, it will require a...

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Presidential Pardons Heavily Favor Whites

Dafna Linzer and Jennifer LaFleur | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Pardons, Propublica Race and Pardons, Racial Disparities in Pardons, Propublica, Race in Presidential Pardons, Presidential Pardons, Presidential Pardons and Race, Propublica Racial Disparities in Presidential Pardons, Black Voices News

First of two parts. Part two here [1]. This story was co-published [2] with The Washington Post.White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the ...

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Pardoned Turkey Is A Specially-Trained Showbird (PHOTOS)

HuffingtonPost.com | Rachel Tepper | Posted 11.29.2011

Read More: W Hotel, DC News, Funny, Green Holiday, Turkey, Presidential Pardons, District of Columbia, Humor, President Obama, Thanksgiving, Obama, Turkey Pardon, DC News

WASHINGTON -- The Thanksgiving turkey officially pardoned by President Obama on Wednesday morning isn't your run-of- the-mill bird. It's actually been...

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Turkeys and the Farce of the Presidential Pardon

Kerstin Shamberg | Posted 01.23.2012

Read More: Holidays, Animal Cruelty, Vegetarian, Animal Rights, Turkey, Peta, Presidential Pardons, Ethics, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian Recipes, Green News

Thanksgiving may be the loveliest of our national holidays, but it has a dark side that haunts me every year: turkeys, 40 million of them, are slaughtered for this holiday.

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Mercy for People, Not Just Turkeys

Julie Stewart | Posted 01.22.2012

Read More: Thanksgiving Pardon, Presidential Pardons, Prison, Eugenia Jennings, Mandatory Minimums, Thanksgiving, Politics News

This week, President Barack Obama won't just be pardoning turkeys. He decided to throw some human beings in the mix, too.

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Bourbon Distillery To Obama: 'Give Us The Bird'

The Huffington Post | Rachel Tepper | Posted 11.23.2011

Read More: W Hotel, Funny, White House, Turkey, District of Columbia, Humor, Thanksgiving, Bourbon, Barack Obama, Video, Presidential Pardons, Alcohol, Dc Around Town, Wild Turkey Bourbon, DC News

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Wednesday will take part in the long-running White House tradition of sparing a turkey from the Thanksgiving plate wi...

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Obama Issues Multiple Pardons For Marijuana-Related Sentences

AP | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Pardons, Video, Barack-Obama-Pardons, Presidential Pardons, Marijuana, Presidential Pardon, Presidential Commutation, Barack-Obama, Barack Obama Commutation, Obama Commutation, Barack Obama, Cocaine, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Monday pardoned five people convicted of charges ranging from intent to distribute marijuana to running an ill...

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Obama Pardons 8 People

AP | By PETE YOST | Posted 07.20.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Pardons, Christine Marie Rossiter, Presidential Pardons, Marijuana, Michael Ray Neal, Allen Edward Peratt Sr, Alligator Hides, Patricia Ann Weinzatl, Randy Eugene Dyer, Edwin Alan North, Barack Obama, Bobby Gerald Wilson, Danny Alonzo Levitz, Alligators, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday pardoned eight people convicted of crimes ranging from conspiring to import marijuana to selling alliga...

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Obama Issues 9 Penny-Ante Pardons, First Of His Presidency

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama Pardons, Presidential Pardons, 700 Days Obama, Marijuana, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- President Obama, who had gone nearly 700 days without using his clemency power, finally issued nine pardons on Friday afternoon to a ver...

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Reversal of Fortune: How a Pardon Halts Detention and Deportation

Arlene M. Roberts | Posted 05.25.2011

The fate of a young immigrant man seemed set in stone - mandatory detention since he was a 'criminal alien' followed by deportation to the country of ...

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I Beg Your Pardon

Michael Sigman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Conrad Black, Pardons, Jimmy Hoffa, Mark Rich, Bush Pardons, George Bush, Cheney, Scooter Libby, Presidential Pardons, Politics News

What if Bush and company are held accountable for their grave offenses -- say, torture or the attorney general scandal?

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Murkowski Solicits Bush For Ted Stevens Pardon

Anchorage Daily News | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lisa Murkowski, George Bush, Ted Stevens, Ted Stevens Indicted, Presidential Pardons, Ted Stevens Indictment, Ted Stevens Corruption, Presidential Pardon, George W. Bush, Politics News

With less than 48 hours left of the Bush presidency, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's spokesman said Sunday that Murkowski had asked the White House to pard...

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An Open Letter to George W. Bush

Gary S. Chafetz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John Mccain Abramoff, George Bush, Pardons, John McCain, Jack Abramoff, American Indians, Criminal Activity, Crime, Native Americans, Mccain Jack Abramoff, McCain Abramoff, Pulitzer Prize, Abramoff, Presidential Pardons, Abramoff Scandal, Jack Abramoff Scandal, Bush Pardons, George Bush Pardons, Politics News

After conducting an investigation, I concluded that Jack Abramoff did not defraud his tribal clients, did not bribe any elected or appointed federal officials, and did not corrupt the political process.

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Strange Bedfellows: Bush Bids Farewell to Ex-Con

Anthony Papa | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rockefeller Drug Laws, War on Drugs, President Bush, Faith-Based Initiatives, Bush Last Press Conference, George Bush, Speech, Presidential Pardons, Bush Last Speech, Bush Pardons, Politics News

Former drug-war prisoner Julio Medina opened Exodus Transitional Community in East Harlem, New York, to assist formerly incarcerated men and women as they integrated back into the community.

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Surge In Wagering in Favor of a Libby Pardon

Keith Thomson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Internet Gambling, Valerie Plame, Presidential Pardons, Cia, Scooter Libby, George W. Bush, Scooter Libby Pardon, Politics News

At the moment it's even-money that George Bush will pardon Scooter Libby -- or about 6 to 5, to be precise, based on wagers placed on internet bookmaking sites like Intrade.

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New Year, New Administration, More Clemency

Jason Flom | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George H. W. Bush, George Bush, Drug Sentencing, Grammys, Criminal Justice, Drugs, Music, Ben Taylor, Unfair Sentencing, The Beatles, Whitney Houston, George H.W. Bush, New Jersey, The Fugees, Carly Simon, Jail, Drug Trafficking, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Crime, John Forte, Exeter, Keith Richards, New York City, Elvis Presley, Presidential Pardons, Criminal Justice System, Prison, Beatles, Lava Records, Bush Pardons, Music Industry, Cocaine, Phillips Exeter, Politics News

Obama ran on a campaign promise of change. He can begin by using the pardon power generously to correct as many individual cases of injustice as possible.

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Pardon the Shoe Thrower

Joe Lauria | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Man Throws Shoes at Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, Muntazer Al-Zaidi, Iraq, Presidential Pardons, George W. Bush, Politics News

The trial of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush was postponed on Tuesday. They are trying to decide whether to charge him with assaulting or just insulting Bush.

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Making His List: Presidential Pardons and Torture

Allen Keller | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Abuse, Human Rights, War on Terror, Presidential Pardons, George W. Bush, Guantanamo, Waterboarding, Bush Pardons, Torture, Abu Ghraib, Politics News

At their essence, human rights, including a ban on torture, are about respecting human dignity. They are guiding principles for how and what governments ought and ought not do.

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Bush Pardons 19 More After Questioning

The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George Bush, Bush Pardoning, Obama Transition, Bush Pardons, George Bush Pardons, Bush Transition, Bush Pardons 2008, Who Did Bush Pardon, Presidential Pardons, Bush Issues 19 More Pardons, Politics News

Think Progress reported Tuesday that a White House spokesman was disputing the notion that President George Bush would not issue a "batch of pardons" ...

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Wall Street Journal To Bush: Save Scooter Libby

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Presidential Pardons, Bush Pardons, Plamegate, Wall Street Journal, Scooter Libby, Media News

The WSJ editors are beseeching Bush to offer Libby a full pardon on the grounds that it would "[undo] a measure of the injustice inflicted" upon him. But didn't Scooter basically get off scot-free?

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Former Gov. George Ryan's Wife Pleads With Bush For Clemency

Chicago Tribune | Gary Marx and James Janega | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George Ryan Presidential Pardon, George Ryan Pardon, Presidential Pardons, Ray Lahood, Bush Pardons, President Bush, George Ryan, George Ryan Clemency, Lura Lynn Ryan, Lura Lynn Ryan Letter, Chicago News

As part of the battle to secure clemency for her husband, the wife of former Gov. George Ryan penned a short note to President George W. Bush that U.S...

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