Pardon? Commutation? What's the difference?

Jonathan D. Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 17, 2024

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WASHINGTON — After pardoning his son Hunter, President Joe Biden, in the biggest one-day grant of clemency ever, granted pardons last week to another 39 individuals and commuted the sentences of 1,499 more, including Gregory J. Podlucky, former CEO of Latrobe beverage maker Le-Nature's Inc.

Clemency is an umbrella term that refers to the acts of pardoning people for crimes or commuting their sentences. The power derives from Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which says the president "shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

A pardon erases a crime and usually is issued after a person is convicted of wrongdoing and completes his or her sentence. It restores all rights of citizenship, such as the right to vote, sit on a jury or run for office. It could remove barriers to obtaining housing or getting a job. The president can only grant pardons to those convicted in federal court, D.C. superior court, or a military court-martial.

The president also has the power to commute sentences. Commutation doesn't erase the crime itself but reduces the punishment for someone convicted, including prison time or any fines.

Pardons

During his first term in office, President Donald Trump pardoned his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, who recently was nominated as ambassador to France; top adviser Stephen Bannon; and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, among others.

In some cases, the president pardons someone before he or she is indicted, such as President Gerald Ford's pardon of former President Richard Nixon for his activities in the Watergate scandal. Biden has been urged to preemptively pardon former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and other members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, all of whom Trump has promised to jail.

Commutations

Besides Podlucky, Biden commuted the sentence of a former judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, Michael Conahan, who had been charged in the "Kids for Cash" scandal in 2009. Conahan and Judge Mark Ciavarella were accused of shutting down a county-run juvenile detention center and instead accepting $2.8 million in illegal payments to send the kids to a for-profit facility built and co-owned by a friend of Conahan's. The FBI said it had been described as the worst judicial scandal in Pennsylvania's history.

Biden said the commutations went to individuals serving long prison terms who were on home confinement during the pandemic. He said many would have received shorter sentences under current laws, policies and practices.

But many, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro were sharply critical of Biden's commutation of Conahan. "President Biden got it absolutely wrong," said Shapiro. "There is all kinds of mental health issues and anguish that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make a buck off a kid's back."

Shapiro noted that some of the kids in the case died by suicide and added he thought Conahan's original sentence was "too light."

Biden said he was not finished granting clemency.

"My administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," he said last week.