Equal under the law

 “The power of pardon conferred by the Constitution upon the President is unlimited except in cases of impeachment. It extends to every offence known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment.”

 That is an excerpt from the supreme court opinion in the case of Ex Parte Garland. (1866) The preemptive pardon find its' root in that opinion. It has been interpreted to mean a pardon can be given at any time. I read it as, at any time either before legal proceedings have been started or have taken place. But, I also read that portion that says, "it extends to every offence known to the law" indicating to me an offence has to have been committed or, at the very least, known. So, in my untrained; read uninitiated, unprogrammed mind, granting a pardon clearly indicates a crime has taken place. No crime, no pardon necessary. Simple as that. That's why it says, "at any time after its' commission."  

 Now this notion of a preemptive pardon for a crime that has been committed hinges on the fact that a crime was committed. In the case of Ex Parte Garland his crime was being a Confederate. He was on the side of the confederacy during the civil war. Lincoln granted pardons in an effort to foster unity. Ford pardoned Nixon using the same thinking, a fostering of unity in the nation. Nixon was guilty, everyone knew that, and he resigned the presidency. Ford believed the humiliation of having to resign was punishment enough. Bush issued pardons to six individuals involved with the Iran-Contra affair. He said it was to prevent unjust prosecutions based on political motivations. And Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon to all the draft dodgers. His reason for doing so? Reconciliation, to bring the nation together again following the great division created by the Vietnam war. In all of these instances it was well established crimes had taken place. 

 That brings us to today and the sweeping pardons issued by Biden. He has pardoned not only those known to have committed crimes, but those that might have. They aren't pardons, they are "get out of jail free cards."  I do not believe that is what the supreme court had in mind when writing that decision. If that is indeed the case one can only surmise one thing; the department of justice is being used as a tool for political prosecution. Are we not all innocent until proven guilty? Is not our justice system blind? If you are innocent of the charges against you will you not be exonerated of those charges? Those actions are the foundation of our republic. Are we now to say, well, that depends upon which political party is in charge? 

 I read this in a legal briefing regarding preemptive pardons and why they should or shouldn't be used." Preemptive pardons can shield individuals from politically motivated prosecutions. In cases where charges appear to be driven more by partisanship than genuine legal concerns, a pardon might serve as a safeguard against misuse of prosecutorial power." Would you not have to know the charges in order to determine the legal concern? Certainly seems reasonable to me. Even then should the president have the sole authority to determine that? I mean, is the president now to replace the entire judicial system, to determine the motivation of the prosecutors?  

  Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants the president the “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” The key word being offenses. But I'm no legal beagle, just a simple citizen of the United States of America that can read a document. And that means an OFFENSE has to have been committed in order to be pardoned. I don't say pardon me before I belch, only afterwards. There is a reason for that, no need to ask for a pardon if I haven't. Yeah, it's pretty easy to understand. Presidential pardons apply to federal offenses. All those individuals that have received pardons are still subject to the laws of the states. They are still subject to prosecution. They are still subject to federal prosecution for any offense they commit from noon yesterday forward. They are all still subject to civil prosecution as well. 

 All the pardons issued in the past where for crimes known to have taken place. Whether those guilty where ever charged or not doesn't matter. Those preemptive pardons shielded the individuals from prosecution because it was known they had committed a crime! The only thing preemptive about that was keeping them out of prison! They had all committed the crime. And that's the bottom line on all of that. Nothing has changed, all those given preemptive pardons where given for that reason, they have committed crimes that require a shield. Period. Well Biden did set a new precedent. The "get out of jail free pardon" No crime need to have taken place at all. You get a pardon whether you need it or not! Now that's progressive! You can't get any more equal under the law than that!