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Stew Rubenstein's avatar

The reform of the pardon MUST be paired with some means of insulating prosecutorial decisions. This is certainly valuable in holding the current administration accountable but there also must be protection from retribution with every swing of the political pendulum. How can we restructure the DoJ to insure its independence?

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Greg Packnett's avatar

I think one of the easiest tweaks to the pardon power would be to suspend it from October 1 of a presidential election year until the inauguration the following year. Almost all of the worst pardons occur during that period anyway.

Another tweak would be that Congress can override an act of clemency by a 2/3rds vote in both houses within 90 days of its issuance.

And finally, I would make all presidents ineligible for executive clemency for any federal crime, no matter who is doing the pardoning, whether the crime is official or unofficial, or when the crime takes place. Anyone who has ever wielded the pardon power cannot benefit from it, including vice presidents who temporarily assume the powers of the presidency, eg Dick Cheney and Kamala Harris

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