Pardon Predictions

Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Ill., is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide for shooting three men, killing two, during protests in Kenosha on Aug. 25

Aren't these state charges?

The Joker

Can you be pardoned if you've only been charged, not convicted? There's really nothing to pardon.

It is easier to predict who won't get one, Michael Cohen.

[quote] Can you be pardoned if you've only been charged, not convicted? There's really nothing to pardon.

Pres Nixon was pardoned by Pres Ford without being charged. Of course it has never been litigated so a court might rule that pardons before being charged are invalid, but that is undecided by the courts.

Trump's accountant Allen Weisselberg, Michael Cohen says Weisselberg knows where all the bodies are buried.

"cause celebres"

Oh, dear!

I would bet that a truly unbiased court would rule you can’t proactively pardon people.

All the Russian and Israeli spies will be pardoned.

It is anyone's guess how courts will rule, if you are being pardoned for the crime then I could see a proactive pardon being legal, if you are being pardoned for the charges then maybe not. It would seem to me that it is the crime you are being pardoned for, not the charges.

I don't think the courts will rule that you can pardon yourself, that just seems wrong on the face of it. A President or Governor could commit any crime and then pardon themselves, even kill someone, no one is suppose to be above the law.

Washington also pardoned participants in the Whiskey Rebellion without them being charged and Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers without being charged. (Nixon wasn't charged, as noted, either.) Of course, those were all different scenarios than what this crime boss is going to try. He'll definitely do Rudy, his kids, and himself. Also think Edward Snowden and Assange (just to "own the libs") and anyone else who has deposited money in an off-shore account for him.

The hilarious thing about all of the grifting he does to raise money from rubes and criminals is that it won't end up mattering; he has no capacity for actually holding on to money. He will always lose whatever he has.

[quote]Can you be pardoned if you've only been charged, not convicted?

Yes

R10, you couldn't kill someone. That is not a federal charge. Pardons only apply to federal crimes.

[quote]That is not a federal charge. Pardons only apply to federal crimes.

Sigh. Naturally, as a federal power, presidential pardons apply to federal crimes. Including murder.

[quote] [R10], you couldn't kill someone. That is not a federal charge. Pardons only apply to federal crimes.

R13, maybe you should reread my post at R10

[quote] A President or Governor could commit any crime and then pardon themselves, even kill someone, no one is suppose to be above the law.

A Governor has the power to pardon for state crimes.

As noted, pardons don't apply to existing charges brought by individual states, and they also don't provide immunity - states can charge people with whatever after they've been pardoned.

Question - I assume a federal pardon only applies to crimes/charges at the time of the pardon. So, can individuals be charged with new federal crimes AFTER a pardon - assuming of course that they're not the same crimes for which they were pardoned or crimes resulting from the same course of conduct, thus eliminating double jeopardy concerns?

10 ways Murder becomes a federal crime:

1. Murder of an Elected/Appointed Federal Official (18 U.S.C. Section 351, 1751)

2. Murder of a Federal Judge or Law Enforcement Official (18 U.S.C. Section 1114)

3. Killing of an Immediate Family Member of Law Enforcement Officials (18 U.S.C. Section 115(b)(3))

4. A Killing Designed to Influence the Outcome of a Court Case (18 U.S.C. Section 1512)

5. A Killing Committed During Bank Robbery (18 U.S.C. Section 1111)

6. Murder Related to Rape, Child Molestation, and Sexual Exploitation of Children (18 U.S.C. Section 2248, 2251)

7. Murder Aboard a Ship (18 U.S.C. Section 2280)

8. Drug-Related Murders (18 U.S.C. Section 36, 924(i))

9. Murder for Hire (18 U.S.C. Section 1958)

10. Murder by Mail (18 U.S.C. Section 1716)

Jizzlane and the EX-cop, cellmate of Epstein

10. Murder by Mail (18 U.S.C. Section 1716)

That's got to be a tough one; you tried to murder someone by mail...but it's been weeks and the person still isn't dead yet.