LogFAQs > #975507915

lilORANG posted...

Founders gave POTUS the pardon power to serve the interests of justice. POTUS is top dawg. I think most SCOTUSes are gonna say States shouldn't be above POTUS in that regard and if POTUS thinks a pardon serves the national interest then he can encroach on the States power.

Probably apply some similar theory they used to incorporate the bill of rights to the States or something.

The Departmen of Justice's website says this:

No. The Presidents clemency power is conferred by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which provides: The President . . . shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. Thus, the Presidents authority to grant clemency is limited to federal offenses and offenses prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in the name of the United States in the D.C. Superior Court. An offense that violates a state law is not an offense against the United States. A person who wishes to seek a pardon or a commutation of sentence for a state offense should contact the authorities of the state in which the conviction occurred. Such state authorities are typically the Governor or a state board of pardons and/or paroles, if the state government has created such a board.

Presidential pardons are exclusively for federal crimes. Period.