08-31-2017, 05:52 PM
(08-31-2017, 05:42 PM)PhilHos Wrote: On the one hand, I've never been particularly fond of the power of the president to issue pardons, especially considering how it's generally used. With that said, I do NOT think this is a good thing. First off, the power to pardon comes directly from the Constitution and I do not think any judge, even the Supreme Court can or should take that power away in any instance for any reason.
Then, of course, you have the precedent this sets. We all know that if this goes through, guarantee when the next Democrat president pardons someone, some jackass Republican or conservative group will try to do something like this, too.
Personally, I am someone that sees the Constitution as a living document. I'm not a literalist for the Bible, or the Constitution, and so I am open to challenges like this. I think this, much like many things we have seen occur in the past, were not things our founding fathers could anticipate happening and so we must contextualize the document with our current times.
All of that being said, the argument being used is that the POTUS has stripped the court of their authority regarding oversight of public officials in violation of the Constitution. So you could say you don't favor a judge or justice doing that to POTUS, but POTUS may have done it to them already. It's going to be an interesting legal debate at the very least.
