I was reading TPM this morning and an item got stuck in my mind:
Then there are the last-minute pardons expected sometime between now and noon Tuesday.
Remember, President Bush has the authority to Pardon whoever he sees fit even potentially preemptively - until 12:00 PM on Tuesday when President-elect Obama takes office.
But, there's a catch.
Josh Marshall learned today that that:
... new Congressional Research Service report concludes that President Bush probably did have the power to revoke the pardon since it had yet to be 'executed'.
The new standard that George Bush set is that a pardon can be revoked until it's been executed.
Consider the implications below the fold...
So consider the implications. Anyone who Bush decides to pardon between now and the 12:01 on Tuesday may not be around to receive the pardon. Maybe the marshalls who are supposed to execute it are too busy doing inaugural security, maybe traffic is too heavy in DC to get around, maybe they're on vacation, maybe the mail takes too long ... whatever.
Think back to December when Bush pardoned 19 people and then...:
President George W. Bush took the very rare step Wednesday of revoking a pardon he had granted only a day before, after learning in news reports of political contributions to Republicans by the man's father and other information.
That same logic applies to the new President ... IF ... the pardons have yet to be executed.
Remember, the outgoing President often waits until the very last minute precisely to bury his pardons in the Inaugural news cycle. But, presumably this means they wont be executed until after the new President takes office and can still revoke them.
So how about it President-elect Obama - Will you undo any pardons that have yet been executed as of the minute you take office?
Update:there is precedent:
It also appears that a pardon may be revoked at any time prior to acceptance or delivery. In In re De Puy, the District Court for the Southern District of New York addressed a situation where a pardon issued by President Johnson on March 3, 1869 was revoked on March 6th, 1869 by incoming President Grant.
The court held that the pardon had been properly withdrawn, as it had not yet been delivered to the grantee, a person on his behalf, or to the official with exclusive custody and control over him.