Office of Pardon Attorney
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 | This page in a nutshell: Key adviser to the president on clemency |
Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) functions within the U.S. Department of Justice to support the President in exercising executive clemency powers. This includes managing applications for pardons, commutations of sentence, remissions of fine or restitution, and reprieves for federal offenses.
The office, part of the United States Department of Justice, assists the president of the United States in his exercise of executive clemency as authorized by Article II, Section 2, of the US Constitution. The office is headed by the pardon attorney, with the current incumbent being Elizabeth G. Oyer, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022. It operates under the general oversight of the deputy attorney general and in consultation with the attorney general or their delegate to review and process clemency applications.
Under the Constitution, the president's clemency power extends only to federal criminal offenses. All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for investigation and review. The pardon attorney prepares the department's recommendation to the president for final disposition of each application.
Since 1853, the responsibility of advising the president on pardon petitions has been assigned to the attorney general. Over time, various offices have supported this role in managing the clemency process, including the Office of the Pardon Clerk (1865–1870), the Office of the Attorney in Charge of Pardons (1891–1894). In 1894, the current Office of the Pardon Attorney was established.[1]
Executive clemency may take several forms, including pardon, conditional pardon, commutation of sentence, conditional commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, respite, reprieve and amnesty. A pardon may be posthumous. The Office of the Pardon Attorney currently has a staff that includes the deputy pardon attorney, an executive officer, four staff attorneys, and its clerical staff and paralegals who assist in the review of petitions.[2]
The power of clemency is "one of the most unlimited powers bestowed on the president by the Constitution."[3]
Mission
The Office of the Pardon Attorney is tasked with aiding the President in exercising his constitutional clemency power. This involves receiving and reviewing all petitions for executive clemency, conducting necessary investigations, and preparing recommendations for the President, ensuring that the process is thorough, fair, and just.
Parent organization
The Office of the Pardon Attorney is part of the United States Department of Justice. It works under the oversight of the Deputy Attorney General and in consultation with the Attorney General to handle clemency applications for federal offenses.
Legislation
The Office of the Pardon Attorney was established by informal redesignation of the Office of the Attorney in Charge of Pardons in 1894, without specific legislation, but it stems from the President's constitutional power under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.[4]
Partners
There are no formal partnerships listed for the Office of the Pardon Attorney as it operates within the framework of the Department of Justice.
Number of employees
The exact number of employees is not publicly available.
Organization structure
The Office of the Pardon Attorney is led by the Pardon Attorney, who is supported by:
- A Deputy Pardon Attorney.
- Staff Attorneys, who are responsible for reviewing clemency petitions.
- Support staff including paralegals and clerical workers for administrative duties.[](https://www.justice.gov/archive/jmd/mps/2012/manual/opa.htm)
List of programs
- Pardon Application Review
- Commutation of Sentence Investigation
- Remission of Fine or Restitution Review
- Reprieve Consideration
Last total enacted budget
The Office of the Pardon Attorney's budget is not distinctly separated in publicly available financial statements of the Department of Justice. Therefore, no specific budget figure is available.
Leader
The head of the Office of the Pardon Attorney is titled the "Pardon Attorney."[5]
Staff
The Office employs staff attorneys, paralegals, and clerical support, but specific staff numbers are not disclosed.
Funding
The Office of the Pardon Attorney is funded through the budget of the United States Department of Justice, but detailed funding specifically for this office is not publicly itemized.
Services provided
The Office of the Pardon Attorney provides services related to the processing of executive clemency petitions. This includes receiving, investigating, and making recommendations on applications for pardons, sentence commutations, remissions of fines or restitutions, and reprieves. They also coordinate with other parts of the DOJ and external agencies like the FBI for background checks.[](https://www.justice.gov/pardon)
Regulations overseen
As an advisory body within the DOJ, the Office of the Pardon Attorney does not oversee regulations but operates under the guidelines set by the DOJ and the authority granted by the U.S. Constitution.
Pardoning standards
When the president proposes to exercise his or her executive clemency, the case is directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for review.
There are five standards for someone to be considered to be pardoned. Generally, the petitioner must be in a good standing during their sentence and must wait a period of at least five years before applying to pardon.[6] However, this five-year wait period can be waived.
The first standard is how the person's conduct, character, and reputation have been during conviction. This means that the individuals conducted themselves as responsible and knowledgeable people who are aware of their crime and are ready to return to normal society. They must have the potential to create a better society by achieving employment, providing for themselves and loved ones, as well as keeping a clean criminal background.[6] A very recent example of this would be when President Trump commuted 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson's sentence after the case was brought up by celebrity Kim Kardashian. The White House described their reasoning for the pardon by stating "while this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance".[7]
Second is the seriousness and when the offense occurred. When the offense is years in the past and did not affect many people, the chance to achieve a pardon is much greater than if the offense was very recent and a high crime. Things that must be considered include how the victims would deal with the pardon, and how it will set a precedent for future similar crimes.[6] During his presidency, President Barack Obama granted clemency 1,715 times.[8] Most of these were for nonviolent drug offenders, in an effort to get non-serious offenders out of prison and to reverse the negative outcomes from the war on drugs.
Third is the individual's acceptance of responsibility and self-awareness of how serious their actions were. The individual's behavior, if they are creating excuses or reasons why they committed the crime, will greatly lower the chances of pardon. If the individual desires forgiveness and portrays complete responsibility for their actions, then the chances are much higher.[6] Generally, every person who is considered for a pardon exudes these behaviors.
Fourth is the legal disabilities the individual suffered from the conviction. Someone like a lawyer or doctor may have lost their licenses as a result of their conviction. This may grant reason to consider a pardon. Though pardons for this type of relief are minimal and very rare, they will not be put at a higher priority over an otherwise deserving person who has a desire for forgiveness.[6] An example of this would be when President Andrew Johnson pardoned Samuel Mudd in 1869. Mudd was imprisoned because he treated John Wilkes Booth's leg after Booth assassinated President Lincoln in 1865.[9] This crime was not very serious, considering Mudd claimed he was unaware of Booth's actions at the time and he was doing what his profession entailed.
Lastly, referrals and recommendations from people in powerful positions like politicians, attorneys, judges, and even victims are looked over carefully to decide if an individual is worthy of a pardon.[6] A controversial pardon was President Bill Clinton pardoning his half-brother, Roger Clinton Jr., for cocaine possession and trafficking convictions.[10]
Posthumous pardons
Posthumous pardons are rare because it is generally Department of Justice policy to not accept requests for non-living persons.[11] This is due to the limited resources and personnel at the Department of Justice, and cases involving living persons take precedence over those who are deceased. The same procedure and reasoning are applied to clemency applications for federal misdemeanors, giving precedent to cases involving federal felony convictions. This structure is designed to allow the DOJ to devote its time to those who will receive the greatest benefit from Federal clemency. Only presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, and Trump have granted posthumous pardons.[11]
Steps and process
The Office of the Pardon Attorney handles all and every clemency related correspondence and issue, including petitions and applications.[12] This involves several steps. The office receives and reviews clemency correspondences,[2] and investigates applications along with the files sent with them to make more valid the petitioner's plea for pardoning.[2] It then prepares a recommendation for each application, and sends it to the president for his final decision as to whether or not to grant a pardon.[2]
For 125 years, the key adviser to the president on clemency has been the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney (PARDON) which normally reviews all requests for pardons.[3]
Based on government data, lawyers, advocates for criminal justice advocates, and former officials from both the White House and pardon, President Trump regularly bypassed the pardon attorney, according to a 2020 investigation by The Washington Post. Unlike previous presidents, Trump has granted clemency to "well-connected offenders who had not filed petitions with the pardon office or did not meet its requirements."[3]
Headquarters address
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20530, USA
History
The Office of the Pardon Attorney was created through the informal redesignation of the Office of the Attorney in Charge of Pardons in 1894 within the Department of Justice. This was part of a broader historical shift where the responsibility for handling clemency matters was moved from the State Department to the Justice Department by an executive order in 1893. Over the years, the office has maintained its role in facilitating the President's exercise of the clemency power, with various administrative changes and policy developments.[13][14]
External links
References
- ↑ "Pardon Records" (in en). 2021-06-10. https://www.archives.gov/research/investigations/pardons.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Office of the Pardon Attorney" (in en). United States Department of Justice. March 2, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/pardon.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Reinhard, Beth; Gearan, Anne (February 3, 2020). "Most Trump Clemency Grants Bypass Justice Dept. and Go to Well-Connected Offenders". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/most-clemency-grants-bypass-doj-and-go-to-well-connected-offenders/2020/02/03/4e8f3eb2-21ce-11ea-9c2b-060477c13959_story.html.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_the_Pardon_Attorney
- ↑ https://www.justice.gov/pardon/staff-profile/meet-pardon-attorney
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Standards for Consideration of Clemency Petitioners" (in en). United States Department of Justice. January 12, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/pardon/about-office-0.
- ↑ Baker, Peter (June 6, 2018). "Alice Marie Johnson Is Granted Clemency by Trump After Push by Kim Kardashian West" (in en). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/us/politics/trump-alice-johnson-sentence-commuted-kim-kardashian-west.html.
- ↑ Horwitz, Sari (January 19, 2017). "Obama grants final 330 commutations to nonviolent drug offenders" (in en). The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-grants-final-330-commutations-to-nonviolent-drug-offenders/2017/01/19/41506468-de5d-11e6-918c-99ede3c8cafa_story.html.
- ↑ Valentine, Vikki. "Clearing Dr. Mudd's Name". NPR. https://www.npr.org/news/specials/mudd/.
- ↑ "10 famous people who received presidential pardons" (in en). National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-famous-people-who-received-presidential-pardons.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Policies" (in en). United States Department of Justice. January 12, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/pardon/policies.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:1 - ↑ https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/204.html
- ↑ https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-history-of-the-pardon-power