Generally, the pardon power is meant to be a check on the legislative and judicial branch, and thus it is designed to be this powerful.
Obama used his pardon power to free individuals who were nonviolent drug offenders who got sentenced to years often for simple possession. This doesn’t mean that he didn’t use a slew of lawyers to find these cases. He very much did. But he could, literally, go through a roster of inmates and just pick random people to pardon.
Trump, if reelected, will likely pardon himself and it will need to go through the courts to see if that’s even feasible. Given the current nature of our highest court, it likely will be found constitutional.
Generally, the pardon power is meant to be a check on the legislative and judicial branch, and thus it is designed to be this powerful.
Obama used his pardon power to free individuals who were nonviolent drug offenders who got sentenced to years often for simple possession. This doesn’t mean that he didn’t use a slew of lawyers to find these cases. He very much did. But he could, literally, go through a roster of inmates and just pick random people to pardon.
Trump, if reelected, will likely pardon himself and it will need to go through the courts to see if that’s even feasible. Given the current nature of our highest court, it likely will be found constitutional.