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January 20, 2025
Out-going Prez Biden uses final hours and minutes to grant a lot more notable clemencies
Given his many notable clemency actions before his last day in office, I had a feeling out-going Prez Joe Biden was going to keep using his clemency pen up to the very last monment. These various stories about various grants today report on all the last-minute action (via The Hill):
"Biden pardons Fauci, Milley, Jan. 6 committee ahead of Trump inauguration"
"Biden commutes sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier"
"Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency"
Though many others are sure to attach many different adjectives to (now former) Prez Biden's clemency record, I will for now stick with the label "historic."
January 20, 2025 at 12:47 PM | Permalink
Comments
God forbid that Fauci be punished for his role in funding work that eventually led to COVID-19, then covering it up.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Jan 20, 2025 3:12:32 PM
William Jockusch,
Trump has also terminated Fauci's security detail. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-revokes-security-detail-fauci
If Fauci has anything to fear from self-appointed "punishers", that seems reckless. On the other hand, hard to argue it's not an official act, and therefore, now, non-justiciable.
According to a SCOTUS majority, the only right and proper restraint on executive authority is the ballot box. Is that restraint meaningful if the executive never again has to face the voters?
Posted by: Frank Fosdick | Jan 24, 2025 7:43:00 PM
Interestingly, several of the people Biden pardoned or commuted have stated their desires not to accept the pardon or commutation. Supreme Court precedent in this area is fascinating. First, A pardon from the President may be refused and is ineffective if not accepted by the recipient. See, BURDICK v. UNITED STATES, 236 U.S. 79 (1915). But a defendant whose sentence is commuted from death to life without parole may not refuse the commutation; any attempt to refuse to accept the commutation from death to life in prison is legally ineffective. BIDDLE v. PEROVICH, 274 U.S. 480 (1927).
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jan 27, 2025 2:41:22 PM
