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Every now and then an idea circulates that we ought to amend the Constitution. Sometimes it’s from the left (repeal or clarify the Second Amendment, e.g.), sometimes from the right (define marriage as between a man and a woman, define gender by original sex, repeal birthright citizenship, etc.). But it doesn’t take much reflection to conclude that none of these could ever get through Congress, much less three-fourths of the states. Over 11,000 amendments have been formally proposed; only 27 have passed (and one was a repeal of an earlier one).
But there is one amendment that America badly needs, and the good news is that it could pass immediately if any effort were put into it:
Eliminate the presidential pardon.
The pardon provides the clearest answer to the question, “What would happen if a tyrant became president?” In the past few months President Donald Trump has pardoned dozens of crooks, fraudsters and would-be insurrectionists; this after pardoning hundreds of actual insurrectionists convicted by juries or by their own confession. This week he pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, the greatest drug kingpin ever convicted. He also pardoned grifter Henry Cuellar, I suppose to show a bipartisan spirit.
Joe Biden holds the all-time record with 4,245 pardons, including those to a handful of family and allies, though in his defense it was only to protect them from publicly announced intentions to exact retribution on them. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, the most lawbreaking president in history until now. Oh, and Trump is teeing up a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, who would almost certainly be the only child-sex trafficker ever to receive the indulgence.
That’s the downside, so what’s the upside? Not much! In normal times, outgoing presidents will pardon a list of carefully reviewed convicts who were sent to prison under dubious circumstances, or who have led exemplary lives since their crime. But many of these cases might be remedied via the normal means of parole or appeal. And anyway, these pardons are usually few in number.
