The Office of the Pardon Attorney

Abstract

The Office of the Pardon Attorney has served presidents well for many decades, but recent presidents have become frustrated with it for various reasons. In this article, I examine the office’s past and present, then look at possible reforms to better prepare the clemency screening process for the Biden administration and its successors.

Clemency

“…Some academic critics of Trump's pardoning focused on Trump's apparent disdain for the established clemency process within the Department of Justice run by the Pardon Attorney. From the start of his administration, he worked largely outside of the formal process and instead relied on things he saw on television, read in a newspaper, heard from a friend, or learned about from an advocate with access to the White House who was pushing a particular grant (Crouch 2021). As a result, one expert concluded that of Trump's 238 clemency grants, only 25 (or 11%) had the Pardon Attorney's support (Gluck & Goldsmith 2021).…”

President Trump's Clemency Record: Extraordinary or Just Ordinary?

“…Those regulations include 28 C.F.R §§1.1–1.11 and require clemency petitioners to complete various steps for their cases to merit consideration by the pardon attorney's office (Legal Authority Governing Executive Clemency). Throughout the early and mid‐twentieth century, presidents, aided by the pardon attorney, used to grant clemency regularly and usually without controversy, although presidents since roughly 1980 have granted pardons and commutations less frequently for various reasons (Crouch 2021, 337–38).…”

“…However, even after the Trump presidency, I am not convinced that the pardon attorney's office requires such sweeping changes. As I have argued elsewhere, the regular clemency review process worked relatively well for many decades, although it has worked less well more recently (Crouch 2021). At the end of the day, the president is responsible for overseeing his administration's clemency program.…”