If we ever manage to take our country back and return to normal, and that is a big if, we must have a huge reform movement. The Supreme Court needs term limits, the E.P.A. needs to return to its original mission, the independence of the Independent Regulatory Agencies like the FCC and the Fed must be protected, place names will need to be returned. There are big tasks and little tasks, and it will take years, if....
One of the necessary changes is that the Presidential pardon power must be defined and limited. This was actually a worry when the Constitution was up for ratification. At least one commentator at the time noted that a President could be involved in crimes and then pardon the henchmen.
We have had pardons in the past that were controversial, including some by Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. What we didn’t have was the pardoning of literally thousands of law breakers, including dangerous and vicious criminals. The power to pardon has usually been used to right wrongs, but we must make sure it can’t be abused as Trump has done so often.
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