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Originally Posted by Guest
So if a person is not indicted, what would they be pardoned for? Are you saying the president could issue 300 million pardons to every man, woman and child in the US and say just stick this in your pocket in case you need it before you die?
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Amazingly enough...that is correct.
The precedent was actually set back in the Civil War era and was a question being floated...when Bush left office.
Can President Bush pardon people who haven't even been charged with a crime?
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Wait—can a president really pardon someone who hasn't even been charged with a crime?
Yep. In 1866, the Supreme Court ruled in Ex parte Garland that the pardon power "extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment." (In that case, a former Confederate senator successfully petitioned the court to uphold a pardon that prevented him from being disbarred.)
Generally speaking, once an act has been committed, the president can issue a pardon at any time—regardless of whether charges have even been filed.
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Which brings up an interesting scenario.
Suppose Obama
'pardons' every undocumented person in the country (regarding being here illegally)...on the day he leaves office?
What then?