Will the Biden Pardons backfire?

Before leaving office Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. issued pardons to people who have not be tried nor convicted of a crime.

Among those pardoned were:

  • His family members.
  • Members of the Democrat J6 Committee.
  • Others in his administration.

QUESTION: Will the Biden Pardons backfire?

ANSWER: Potentially, yes.

Here’s why, the Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915) ruling.

Here is a synopis of the Burdick v. United States, No. 471, Argued December 16, 1914 and Decided January 25, 1915 – 236 U.S. 79 states:

Acceptance, as well as delivery, of a pardon is essential to its validity; if rejected by the person to whom it is tendered, the court has no power to force it on him. United States v. Wilson, 7 Pet. 150.

Quaere whether the President of the United States may exercise the pardoning power before conviction.

A witness may refuse to testify on the ground that his testimony may have an incriminating effect, notwithstanding the President offers, and he refuses, a pardon for any offense connected with the matters in regard to which he is asked to testify.

There are substantial differences between legislative immunity and a pardon; the latter carries an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it, while the former is noncommittal, and tantamount to silence of the witness.

There is a distinction between amnesty and pardon; the former overlooks the offense, and is usually addressed to crimes against the sovereignty of the state and political offenses, the latter remits punishment and condones infractions of the peace of the state.

211 F. 492 reversed.

The facts, which involve the effect of a pardon of the President of the United States tendered to one who has not been convicted of a crime nor admitted the commission thereof, and also the necessity of acceptance of a pardon in order to make it effective, are stated in the opinion.

In a New Yorker column titled Are Blanket Pardons for Officials on Donald Trump’s Target List a Good Idea? spoke with Rachel Barkow, a professor at the N.Y.U. School of Law and an expert on criminal law and mass incarceration.

Here is a pertenent excerpt:

I want to ask about another potential downside of pardoning these people, which is whether it expresses a lack of confidence in the system beyond Trump’s appointees if you do this. Trump can maybe get Kash Patel, or whoever runs the F.B.I., to go after someone, but you still need a grand-jury indictment, which I know can be very easy to get, and you still need a judge to go along with the prosecution, and you still need a jury to convict.

I would say, in some sense, the process is the punishment, and, if you are facing a federal investigation, that is a scary process. Even if everything works great and, at the end of it, you are exonerated and you’re not charged and everything is fine, you are going to spend an enormous amount of time and money and worry before that outcome takes place. It’s not nothing to find yourself the target of a federal investigation. Even if you have faith in the process, I think it’s a big deal.

In terms of the process itself, you never really know with absolute certainty what a jury will do in any given case, right? Unfortunately in America, we have had lots of innocent people convicted. We know that we have wrongfully convicted people, so the fear is always there.

When a prosecutor is threatening you with really serious charges and sentences, a lot of people just plead guilty to something that is a guaranteed lesser sentence, just to avoid that danger and risk. It may be a statement about the fact that we have an imperfect system, but we do have an imperfect system. It’s not ridiculous to me that somebody would want to spare people from having to go through that.

The Bottom Line

The Biden pardons of those who have not been convicted of a crime sets a terrible president. It can be abused by future presidents to protect those in their administration or in his or her party without evidence of a crime being committed.

Therefore for those who Biden pardoned without a crime being committed are subject to be prosecuted and punished by the Department of Justice.

Additionally, those pardoned without a crime nor a coviction of a crime are essentialy, by accepting the pardon, admitting their guilt.

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