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September 29, 2024
Noting, yet again, that very few recipients of clemency from Prez Trump have faced new charges
In this post a couple of years ago, I flagged the historical and statistical reality that it is likely that, among any significant cohort of clemency recipients, some number are to face some future legal difficulties. I made the point in conjunction with a press effort to suggest that an unusually large number of persons granted clemency by President Trump were "back in legal jeopardy." This point merits raising again because this weekend the New York Times decided to rabble-rouse in this arena via this article headlined "Trump Gave Them a Second Chance. They Could Not Stay Out of Trouble." Here are some excerpts (with links from the original):
Executive clemency is among the most unilateral unchecked powers of the Oval Office. Presidents are allowed to decide how and to whom to issue commutations, which reduce or eliminate prison sentences, and pardons, which wipe away conviction records.
According to an analysis in a law journal focused on criminal justice, only 25 of the nearly 240 clemency grants issued by Mr. Trump were vetted and recommended by the pardon attorney’s office. The analysis concluded that most other modern presidents skirted the Justice Department clemency process less often, with a few notable exceptions that sometimes prompted outrage or investigations.
As Mr. Trump campaigns for another term as president, he is again dangling the prospect of executive clemency for supporters and cases that align with his politics. He has promised to commute the life sentence of Ross W. Ulbricht, founder of an online drug marketplace. Mr. Ulbricht’s cause has been championed by the cryptocurrency industry, which Mr. Trump has cultivated.
In addition, Mr. Trump has pledged to pardon people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by his supporters, egged on by his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.....
Ms. Camberos is among six people granted clemency by Mr. Trump and known to have been charged with new crimes after they received a second chance, according to a Times review of the former president’s clemency grants....
To be sure, some criminal justice experts and supporters of prisoners’ rights say the Justice Department’s process takes too long and gives too much deference to federal prosecutors, who tend to frown on having their convictions undermined. But even some Trump aides were concerned that his White House’s ad hoc process lacked sufficient vetting and relied too much on insider ties, according to former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Even if all six of the persons mentioned in the NYTimes piece are guilty of the crimes for which they have been charged, that would still mean the group of Trump clemency recipients have a reconviction rate of just 2.5%. Given that the US Sentencing Commission has determined in a 2016 report that federal offenders as a group generally have roughly 32% reconviction rate, Prez Trump's distinctive process for picking clemency recipients does not seem to have produced a great threat to public safety.
Prior related post:
September 29, 2024 at 11:52 PM | Permalink
Comments
I find it highly unfortunate that the J6 situation appears to be driven by partisan animus on both sides. We have a blue-dominated prosecution pushing for maximum sentences and a red candidate pledging pardons. Ugh.
I hope DJT will have the good sense to leave the most violent rioters in prison.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Sep 30, 2024 12:20:49 AM
Don't forget about this guy who went right back to committing crimes.
https://apnews.com/article/eliyahu-weinstein-investor-fraud-commuted-sentence-trump-8a6141aca1b6e145b73fb73187006187
Posted by: Da Man | Sep 30, 2024 9:35:57 AM
Eliyahu Weinstein is mentioned in the NYT article, Da Man. Interestingly, 50% of the six persons "accused of another crime" after a Trump clemency are federal fraudsters who usually have relatively lower rearrest rates than other federal offenders. But I believe many Trump clemency recipients were white-collar folks, so maybe this data point on a very small sample is not too surprising.
Posted by: Doug B | Sep 30, 2024 9:57:28 AM
It's quite frustrating to read articles like this in the NY Times. I always brace myself when I go the the Times site daily.
Trump granted over 60 commutations to drug offenders. I know many of them and these commutations were not paid for. I can only imagine what the article would have said about a violent offender who was released and reoffended. Clemency is not a legal procedure - It is an act of mercy and compassion. It should be unfettered.
Posted by: beth curtis | Sep 30, 2024 2:20:29 PM
Mr. Jockusch---so you're saying that politics is involved in the charging? That's a huge no-no. That compels clemency. Even for the most violent. Note how no one involved in the riot outside the WH, which was far more violent, got charged. And what should happen to those blue prosecutors? Should they retain law licenses? What about the judges? The J6 prosecutions were a disgusting spectacle.
Let's hope that all those shown mercy repay it by living good lives.
Posted by: federalist | Sep 30, 2024 11:01:21 PM
Notably, my friend Sholam Weiss, whose 835 year sentence (shortened from 845 years via a 2241 Habeas Corpus Petition) was commuted to "time served" by President Donald Trump on his last day in office (January 19, 2021) has not reoffended in any way. Weiss served 18 + years of the sentence before it was commuted to "time served". He suffered a minor stroke 2 months following his release from prison and now has serious health problems. Weiss transferred his Supervised Release to New York, but his 2022 Motion to have his 3 years of Supervised Release terminated early was denied, in substantial part because he still owes a very large fine, which began at $123.4 million, but now, with interest, is more than $300 million. See, United States v. Weiss, No. 21-CR-00457 (PMH) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2022). Subsequently, the District Judge rejected Weiss' Motion to Reduce or Eliminate the Fine, pointing out that such relief would have to be sought from the Sentencing Court (in the M.D. Fla.) and could not be granted in the Judicial District to which supervision had been transferred. No. 21-CR-00457 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2022). Notably, the Court has previously found that his $125 million of restitution obligations have been satisfied by the dramatic increase in value of the underwater mortgages he had counseled the victim company to purchase in the late 1990s. The mortgage holders did perform and begin paying again, which dramatically increased the value of the mortgages.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Oct 3, 2024 8:06:13 AM
