So one of the last things Trump did was pardon a whole shitton of scumbags.

[conuly]

But not himself, because you can't do that.

Anyway, putting his self-serving pardons aside, I have a serious question about how pardons work. Theoretically, could an incoming president say "Look, we all know that the War on Drugs is both racist and bullshit, and also racist bullshit" and then grant a blanket pardon to everybody convicted of possession? Or would this president have to issue all the pardons individually?

Comments

[dine]

I'm not sure on the War on Drugs thing, but on January 21, 1977, Jimmy Carter issued an unconditional blanket pardon for Vietnam War draft dodgers - both the majority who'd fled to another country, and the smaller number who were hiding in the US.

so blanket pardons are possible - at least some of the time

[erinptah]

Oh, awesome. (Carter: still my favorite.)

I know the pardons are only for federal crimes, so Biden wouldn't be able to pardon all the state-level drug convictions. He could only do the ones with factors like "transportation across state lines" that turn them into federal cases.

[conuly]

I suppose this hypothetical president - because, let's be honest, I don't actually see Biden doing this, he's a little too centrist/establishment - could put weight on the governors of his party to do the same, perhaps all in one fell swoop. No, not a fell swoop, a beneficent swoop.

[elayna]

The power to pardon comes from State Constitutions, so it’s not consistent...mostly it’s the Governor but sometimes with other officials, sometimes it’s an independent board, sometimes it’s only if the board has recommended, etc.

It’s a lovely thought, but it seems complicated as all heck to achieve.

I do wonder how these next four years will go. I’m so relieved; I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy about a new President. Yet there is so much to fix, even at the best of times, and these are not those!