Obtaining a Pardon Is Not Easy

Added: (Thu Nov 12 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Often when we read about someone getting a pardon, we wonder if they committed whatever crime they were convicted of in a court of law.

A lot of people intrinsically feel that the individual who was wrongly convicted of a particular crime would be chomping at the bit to have their name cleared. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the case.

Many convicts who have been wrongly accused and subsequently found themselves behind bars would instead wait to have their sentences overturned. Usually the reason for this choice is because they don’t want to get tagged with the stigma of people thinking they did the dirty deed and are now being pardoned for doing it.

Stop and think about this point of view and it’s likely that several names of famous people who got pardons will come to mind. Over the last 20 years or so there have been some highly questionable pardons issued by a variety of Presidents.

The one that raised the most number of eyebrows was the pardon of Richard Nixon. Others that caused a media foofaraw were Carlos Vignali for cocaine trafficking, Almon Glenn Braswell for mail fraud and perjury, and Linda Sue Evans and Susan Rosenberg, members of the Weather Underground charged with weapons and explosives offenses.

To this day many people still debate whether those who received pardons were guilty or innocent. One thing is for sure though, it seems that the number of pardons being handed out these days is rapidly dwindling and they are not very easy to get, despite the general public thinking that all the convict has to do is ask for a pardon.

If the prisoner wants to get a federal pardon, they usually need to wait at least five years after their conviction. It could take even longer because the Justice Department gets over 600 requests for pardons every year. The actual number of pardons granted is roughly 10% of the total, or roughly 60 pardons.

In general, pardons are only considered if the person has finished their sentence and has shown they intend to live responsibly when they’re released. Pardons should not be confused with clemency. Pardons actually forgive the crime and the penalty. On the other hand, clemency reduces the penalty only, but doesn’t forgive the crime.

Federal pardons are normally approved by the President, but state governors or pardon boards may also grant pardons under state law. While these various options exist to get a pardon, they are not handed out every day for every case. So while there are instances where pardons are granted, they are the exception and not the rule.