The Bush Pardons

[Kevlar281]

I thought he commuted their sentences. Isn't there a difference between a commutation and a pardon? And as for you original question, I'd say down here the sentiment is that the only thing they are/were guilty of is bad aim.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevlar281

I thought he commuted their sentences. Isn't there a difference between a commutation and a pardon? And as for you original question, I'd say down here the sentiment is that the only thing they are/were guilty of is bad aim.

Yeah, but you've got the level of severity in reverse - commutation actually lets them out of jail, while a pardon simply removes the offense from their record (presuming they've already served their time, if any).

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Yeah, but you've got the level of severity in reverse - commutation actually lets them out of jail, while a pardon simply removes the offense from their record (presuming they've already served their time, if any).

Your reply makes no sense at all to me. Both men weer still in prison. Do you think they would still sit in prison if they had been pardoned?

If they were pardoned, they would also be released from prison. The conviction would have been removed from their records and they would actually be eligible to serve as border patrol agents again.

With a commutation, the conviction stands. They both still have felony records, which will follow them for the rest of their lives. This simply reduces the amount of time they spend in prison.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by thetalady

Your reply makes no sense at all to me. Both men weer still in prison. Do you think they would still sit in prison if they had been pardoned?

If they were pardoned, they would also be released from prison. The conviction would have been removed from their records and they would actually be eligible to serve as border patrol agents again.

With a commutation, the conviction stands. They both still have felony records, which will follow them for the rest of their lives. This simply reduces the amount of time they spend in prison.

My reply was unnecessarily short, I agree - also, I read Kevlar's post as saying it was "only" a commutation, which he didn't really imply, it was more on my end. Whoops.

Generally speaking, the overwhelming majority of pardons are done post hoc, after the sentence has been completed, hence the tone of my reply. While the President will give out over a hundred pardons on his way out the door, very few of those usually result in getting out of prison, although I will agree the potential exists (we can argue about their ability to be Border Patrol in the future, but that seems unnecessary at best).

I would tend to think that having your sentence commuted is more important to the average person serving a 10-year sentence than the felony following them for the rest of their lives, but that's just me. If I recall correctly, there are dozens of post hoc pardons for every commutation, and the commutations tend to be much more controversial (excluding Richard Nixon's pre-indictment pardon, obviously).