With President Joe Biden’s term winding down, the subject of clemency has heated up. Biden now finds himself in a bind familiar to many of his predecessors. The bind arises because clemency is a vast and virtually unregulated power. Presidents can use it to show mercy to political allies, corrupt cronies, and people they think have been treated unfairly. They can even spare family members. Or they can refuse to use the clemency power at all. They don’t need a reason to grant clemency other than that they choose to do so. As a result, any time presidents grant pardons and reprieves, they risk being denounced as arbitrary, capricious, or corrupt.
Biden’s recent pardon of his son Hunter stands as a vivid example of the risks presidents face. Even Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said it set a “dangerous precedent.” And only twenty percent of the American public approve of what Biden did.
