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Is there a limit on presidential pardons in the US? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Sorry I hope this doesn’t go against the no politics rule. I promise this isn’t meant to be partisan but rather questions on legality for purely curiosity sake. But if it is please remove and I understand.

Is there a limit to US presidential power when it comes to pardons? Can it be used for any crime in the US or are there some things it cannot?

For example, if someone were to hypothetically carry out an assassination on a sitting president (any president, this is just a thought exercise), they would be sentenced to death most likely. But let’s say that the person was hired by the sitting VP. Assassin takes out the president, VP becomes president, then pardons assassin.

Based on current laws, could that happen? What other bizarre uses could happen?

Please keep this non-political per the rules.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

If we assume a presidential pardon takes 3 seconds with the words "I pardon you" given by the president himself, assuming they need to sleep 8 hours a day and will only stay one term (four years), the limit that a president can pardon is 28,050,624 times. The president can pardon multiple people at once to bypass this limitation, but a president that considers this as a limitation of their powers will likely never get elected.

However if we move the idea towards its strength, it doesn't extend to violation of state laws. I have no idea how US law works, but I'm certain assasinating the president violates states law, so no.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Lol, could you imagine if the president just came out on a live broadcast and said, “I pardon everyone currently convicted of a federal crime”