Part 6: The Pardon Power and Role in Foreign Policy Lecture 14 The Executive Part 6: The Pardon Power and Role in Foreign Policy

This lecture Covers The Pardon Power The President’s role in Foreign Policy Pages 256-268 After you finish this material, you will work on your first major assignment

The Pardon Power The power of the President to pardon someone is found in Article II It is for federal crimes only The President cannot pardon someone for a state level offense Cannot be used to nullify impeachment The person must accept the pardon Except for commutation of a death sentence This can be of an individual or a class The President can also commute a sentence The conviction stands A full pardon expunges the record as if the person was never convicted Some pardons have been citied Bush I- Iran Contra, Bill Clinton- Marc Rich, Bush II- Scooter Libby

Ex parte Grossman (1925) Ex parte Grossman (1925) Background Defendant was found guilty of contempt of court for selling liquor in violation of the Volstead Act He was sentenced to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine President Coolidge commuted the sentence to only the fine and Grossman accepted The District judge refused to recognize the pardon saying President Coolidge had no authority to commute a Contempt conviction Grossman objected and filed a write of habeas corpus to be released Question: Does the pardon power include the power to commute a sentence for criminal contempt?

Ex parte Grossman- II Arguments For Grossman Against Grossman Offenses includes contempt This goes back to England No serious threat this would be used by the President against the courts Against Grossman President may pardon only statutorily offenses President may only pardon offenses subject to jury trial Allowing the President to pardon would offend separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary

Ex parte Grossman- III Unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Taft Grossman wins The King of England could pardon for contempt There have been previous pardons for contempt Contempt citations are essentially violations of criminal law, thus subject to the pardon power The remedy for use of excessive pardons is impeachment

Murphy v. Ford (W.D. Mich. 1975) Murphy v. Ford (W.D. Mich. 1975) Background President Ford pardons President Nixon for any and all acts committed during his entire tenure in office Ford believed this would be better for the country not to have a long trial of President Nixon- he later got the profile in courage award for this However, it may have cost him reelection Some believed Ford was given the Vice-Presidency with the condition of a pardon Question: Could the President grant a pardon to someone not charged or indicted? Yes, the pardon power is unlimited except for impeachment Whether legal proceedings have started matters not

The President and Foreign Policy I am going to go through this very quickly United States v. Curtis-Wright (1936) The company wanted to sell arms to Bolivia during war, violating an act prohibiting selling arms to warring nations President is the sole organ of foreign policy Subordinate only to the Constitution President has more discretion here than in domestic affairs Look back to Goldwater and Zivotfsky

Next time Upon finishing this lecture, move to the major assignment posted, which will be a legal memo, covering the first two weeks of material For Week 3, We will do the chapters on Separation of powers Federalism Pages 289-414 This is actually less reading than week 2, but it is still a lot Remember this is three weeks worth of material in a regular class