Joe Biden announced pardoned thousand of marijuana users who had been convicted for possessing the drug. This latest round was designed to cover people who were overlooked in the run-up to last year’s vote-buying exercise midterm elections, and is probably aimed at bolstering the unpopular President’s flagging support among younger Democrats. The administration also called on state governors to pardon people for similar state crimes.
While I agree that prohibition of cannabis isn’t working any better than it did for alcohol, and that needlessly ruining people’s lives over it only helps keep them in the cycle of addiction, I think we need to ask some important questions about the President’s pardon power and its use by future Republican presidents.
One big idea that came up on social media was the issue of pardons for people involved in the events of January 6, 2021.
For years, the MAGA crowd has been saying that Trump could not have issued a blanket pardon to non-violent January 6 offenders. Well, President Biden just issued a blanket pardon to about 70% of the country. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/c7R7eP3Opc
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) December 22, 2023
While I initially thought that was hyperbole, Biden’s announcement does in fact apply to all who have ever committed these federal crimes, regardless of whether they’ve been arrested or convicted.
“Therefore, acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., do hereby grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who, on or before the date of this proclamation, committed or were convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, regardless of whether they have been charged with or prosecuted for these offenses on or before the date of this proclamation…” (emphasis added)
It’s clear that a president has the power to issue pardons for crimes that haven’t been charged or prosecuted. For example, President Nixon got a pardon from Gerald R. Ford after he left office which kept him from being prosecuted for crimes related to the Watergate scandal.
This hasn’t been tested in court, but nobody has ever opposed it and there doesn’t appear to be a constitutional basis to limit pardons only to those crimes that have been charged or convicted.
So, it’s fair to bring up January 6th. The federal government is still, even after all this time, digging up information and indicting people who were in or near the U.S. Capitol that day. Those people could have been protected by a blanket pardon despite never having been convicted of a crime at the time Trump left office in 2021. While he didn’t issue such a pardon, doing so is now one of his campaign promises should he be reelected next year.
However you feel about January 6th or weed, it’s important that we start demanding more use of the pardon power to indemnify the exercise of constitutionally-protected rights, especially our natural rights protected by the Second Amendment. Instead of looking at the pardon power as some nice thing presidents can choose to do at will, we should expect this of them. After all, Presidents take an oath that they “…will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
One very important thing the next Republican president can and should do on day one is use the power of the pardon to undo damage caused by unconstitutional federal firearms laws. Think: felon in possession prohibitions, “unlawful” sales of firearms, and, of course, unlawful possession by marijuana users. These laws were never legitimate to begin with, and thus such pardons would protect innocent people from further unlawful government persecution.
We should hold presidents accountable to uphold their oath of office and demand that they recognize that “the best of their abilities” includes the use of that pardon power. Such pardons can and should be conducted regularly to prevent further prosecutions of unconstitutional laws until such time as they are repealed or struck down by the the legislative or legal process.