Conditionally Speaking

and pondering the pardon predicament:

full-blown pardons hint of committed crimes

and pre-emptive pardons are too iffy, frowned upon and perilous.

Sooo, why not consider the conditional pardon?

Simultaneously spread the pain and the relief by pardoning DOTUS-elect of all crimes charged (and maybe more to sweeten the pot) conditioned on him and his minions not following through on their promised revenge and retribution during the entire length of his term in office.

Share

13 thoughts on “Conditionally Speaking”

  1. from the Hahvahd law review, no less, back in 2021:

    The President’s Conditional Pardon Power

    The President’s pardon power is a near-blank check hidden among the Constitution’s checks and balances. Despite substantial hand-wringing about possible abuses of the power, scholars have almost entirely overlooked the most potent tool in the President’s pardon power arsenal: the ability to attach conditions to clemency grants (the “conditional pardon power”).
    […]
    Presidents have so far avoided controversial conditional pardons. As a result, the boundaries of the conditional pardon power have not been clearly drawn. This Note fills that gap. It answers two questions: Are there limits to the conditional pardon power? If so, what are they?
    This Note’s examination of the conditional pardon power is valuable for a few reasons. First, the power is ripe for abuse. It could allow a norm-breaking President to infringe upon individual rights and, as perniciously, to undermine America’s separation of powers. Second, the original understanding of the conditional pardon power is sorely underdeveloped. Given the increasingly originalist federal judiciary, the outcome of future conditional pardon cases could turn on the power’s original meaning. Finally, the conditional pardon power is underappreciated but not entirely neglected. America’s history books contain scattered instances of conditional pardons, some of which received scrutiny from the Supreme Court. History provides enough data points for this Note’s pardon power connect-the-dots to sketch an intelligible picture of the President’s conditional pardon power.
    This Note concludes that the President’s pardons may not include conditions that deprive an individual of rights not already deprived by that individual’s conviction (or, in the case of preemptive pardons, rights that would have been deprived by a guilty plea). This internal limitation is externally reinforced by the Due Process Clause. This Note’s historical and constitutional arguments should inform judges faced with conditional pardon cases. Whatever disagreements may arise over this Note’s descriptive account of the conditional pardon power’s limits, the examination of risks from unfettered conditional pardons commends to future administrations the wisdom of prudential limits.

    [it continues in lengthy but thought-provoking legalese]

  2. don’t forget the current Supremes have already acknowledged both the almost-complete immunity and the unlimited pardon power of the President.  that includes POTUS Joe now ’til 1/20/25 at 12:00 pm.

  3. Kash Cringe

    Kash Patel wish list: Darcy cartoon – cleveland.com

    “We will go out and find the conspirators — not just in government, but in the media…we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections…We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But yeah, were putting you all on notice, and Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why we’re tyrannical. This is why we’re dictators…Because we’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.”

  4. Just in case the urge to flee strikes.  

    Ten Best places for Expats ranked.

    . Zurich, Switzerland
    2. Vienna, Austria
    3. Geneva, Switzerland
    4. Copenhagen, Denmark
    5. Auckland, New Zealand
    6. Amsterdam, Netherlands
    7. Frankfurt, Germany (tie)
    7. Vancouver, Canada (tie)
    9. Bern, Switzerland
    10. Basel, Switzerland

    Number two on the list:

     

     

     

  5. DOTUS -elect can and will pardon himself and anyone else he wants of all crimes.   I, too, thought maybe pulling the rug out from under his diapered behind by pardoning the J6ers might tick him off…but it would actually just make him point and say even Dems think they were “hostages” who did no wrong.

    No, POTUS Joe just needs to pardon Orange Adolf’s hit list…and maybe DACA. 

    I still wonder if Biden’s pardons will hold any weight in a world where Orange Adolf has presidential immunity, in the post-constitutional, Fascist States of America. 

    ps – All of the chatter about cutting Social Security and Medicare privatization is going to make pardons a non-issue.

    pps – Gabbard and Musk have now both, it seems, violated the Logan Act.

  6. https://www.newsweek.com/what-elon-musk-has-said-about-social-security-reform-1995978

    “While Musk has not personally advocated reforms or cuts to Social Security, other Republican figures have – in defiance of Trump’s election promise not to cut entitlements. As Social Security is the largest single mandatory spend for the U.S. government – totaling $1.4 trillion in 2023 – it could be a consideration for Musk’s $2 trillion cost-saving agenda in 2025.”

    “Last week, an X thread authored by Utah Senator Mike Lee, was reposted by Musk. The 24-post thread details how Social Security is, according to Lee, a “Ponzi scheme that’s running out of new investors” and “government dependency at its worst.”

    “As the largest entitlements program in the country, Social Security provides benefits to more than 70 million retirees, survivors and people with disabilities every month.”
    “This is a declaration of war against seniors, people with disabilities, and the American public,” Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, said in a statement. “We’ve seen this play again and again. When Republicans destroyed defined benefit pension plans, they claimed that the market would be able to create amazing returns for everybody. Instead, workers got pennies, while Wall Street managers got billions. That is always the plan.”

    “We will defeat this Republican effort to steal our earned benefits. The money is ours, Mike Lee, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump. You’re not going to get a penny of it.”
     
    *I’ve only had one parent and one of my four grandparents live long enough to get Social Security.  A lot paid in by them with zero return.  Do not cut off my generation.  
     
    *I have a feeling Elon wants to invest it in crypto, suck out all of the actual US dollars, let it collapse, and then ask the government to bail out crypto investors. Crypto! There’s your Ponzi scheme, Senator Lee!

  9. I’ve had other distractions this week, but I want to be on record that I am disgusted by the depraved and insensitive media response to the killing of the United Healthcare CEO. Whatever your issues about denial of coverage – they may be serious and I know because have dealt with them personally and professionally – you do not take it out in the immediate moment at the expense of two young boys following the shocking and untimely death of their father. 
    This is emblematic of what’s wrong with this country. We have lost our perspective and our humanity. 

  10. Jamie, my maternal great grandparents were from Bern, coming to America as indentured servants.  I am sure I could look up old/new  relatives who would help me find shelter and feed me and…well…if not, there are 3 other Swiss cities listed.  Must be some of the Meyer/Saltzman name there then. I may have to move if Musk and Ramaswamy kill my veterans benefits. Those bastards.

  11. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/europe/romania-annuls-presidential-election-intl/index.html

    “Romania’s constitutional court has annulled the first round of the country’s 2024 presidential election process, which was narrowly won by far-right ultranationalist candidate Calin Georgescu amid allegations of Russian interference.”
     

    “The court’s decision, announced Friday, is final and binding. It requires the Romanian government to restart the electoral calendar.”

    “It also comes just days after the vote was hit with fears over foreign interference, after declassified documents from Romania’s top security council revealed evidence of “aggressive hybrid Russian attacks.”

    “They also showed how Georgescu was boosted by potential interference on TikTok – the social media platform on which he largely ran his campaign – through algorithms, coordinated accounts and paid promotion, Reuters reported.”

  12. Murder by paperwork is legal…and it shouldn’t be.  I actually worry about them catching the guy, because it probably won’t be alive…insurance companies don’t want a trial/airing of dirty laundry.   Instead of talking about changing business practices, they are circling the wagons.  They don’t care about the folks they’ve bankrupted or outright unalived by delay or denial of service.  Two wrongs don’t make a right, but sympathy…?  Sympathy? Maybe for whatever the shooter went through to push him that far.

Leave a Reply