In Federalist No. 74, Alexander Hamilton explained the pardon as a way to mitigate individual injustices and restore domestic peace.
Contemporary Constitutional expert John Vile says it’s time to reconsider the the power of the Presidential pardon.
With Trump’s pardons a topic of keen debate, and little constitutional guidance except for a memorandum penned in 1974 by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary C. Lawton arguing that “no one may be a judge in his own case,” Vile is available to analyze and comment on today’s unprecedented flurry of pardons.
Dr. John R. Vile is a Professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University and the author of A Companion to the U.S. Constitution and Its Amendments, which will soon be out in a 7th edition.
Vile’s Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-2015, 4th edition, is widely regarded as the prevailing standard and is the most comprehensive book on constitutional amendments and proposed amendments.
He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary who earned his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia. Since 2008, he has served as the Dean of Middle Tennessee State University Honors College.
