Presidential Abuse of the Pardoning Power Must Be Curbed
Those of us concerned over President Barack Obama’s excessive use of his power [1] under Art. II, §2, Cl. 1 [2] of the Constitution to grant pardons and commutations to hundreds of drug dealers, many of whom also were convicted of firearms offenses (and therefore, contrary to what the president said, not nonviolent offenders), should realize that he is not the first president to misuse that authority.
When former President Bill Clinton was reminiscing this week in his prime-time speech to the nation at the Democratic National Convention, he forgot to mention the scandalous pardons he issued at the end of his administration.
My colleague, Paul Larkin Jr., has a very informative article in the summer issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy on “Revitalizing the Clemency Process [3].” He points out that:
Editor's Note: This piece was originally published by The Daily Signal [5].
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http://cnsnews.com/commentary/hans-von-spakovsky/presidential-abuse-pardoning-power-must-be-curbed
