Why Congress can’t curb Trump’s power to commute Stone’s sentence and pardon others
President Donald Trump recently commuted the sentence of his friend and political ally Roger Stone, meaning Stone remains convicted but does not have to serve prison time.
Article II, section 2 of the Constitution grants the president the power “to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment” – which includes reducing or commuting sentences, as well as pardoning people for federal crimes, which can reverse their convictions, or preventing them from being charged in the first place.
All but two presidents in U.S. history have issued pardons – and the two who didn’t were William Henry Harrison and James Garfield, both of whom died after very short times in office.
Trump is not the first president to use the pardon power to remedy what...