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Welcome to the Thursday, February 20, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Presidents have issued 14,215 pardons since 1902
- Local roundup
- Take our newest Learning Journey on executive control over regulatory review
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Presidents have issued 14,215 pardons since 1902
President Donald Trump (R) issued seven pardons and commuted four prison sentences on Feb. 18. Trump has pardoned 25 people and commuted the sentences of 10 others since taking office. So, what exactly are pardons and commutations, and how do they work? What kind of historical data is available? Our elections team has been tracking this for years, so they sent me over some information yesterday.
Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants the president the power of executive clemency. Executive clemency includes the power to pardon, in which the president overturns a federal conviction and restores “an individual to the state of innocence that existed before the conviction.” Executive clemency also includes the power of commutation, which allows a president to shorten or reduce a federal prison sentence. Clemency can also include the power to postpone a sentence or punishment—known as a reprieve—and the remission of fines.
A president’s power of executive clemency is limited to federal offenses. He or she cannot pardon individuals for civil or state offenses. A president may also not use this power to intervene in impeachment proceedings. One of the first uses of the powers of executive clemency in U.S. history came in 1795 when President George Washington pardoned participants in a tax riot known as the Whisky Rebellion.
Since 1902, presidents have issued 14,215 pardons and 6,557 commutations. The chart below shows the number of pardons and commutations by president since Theodore Roosevelt (R). This data was taken from the website of the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes information dating back to 1900. Our data starts with 1902 since that's the beginning of the first complete presidency using this information. Also, these numbers do not include instances of mass pardons such as in 1974 when President Gerald Ford (R) pardoned those who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.
From 1914 to 1981—during all presidencies from Woodrow Wilson (D) to Jimmy Carter (D)—the number of pardons issued by each president was over 100 per year. Since Ronald Reagan (R), the average number of pardons per year has been less than 50. Rachel Barkow, a law professor at New York University, wrote in a New York University Law Review article in June 2015 that "The main reason for fewer clemency grants is the politics surrounding clemency and crime more generally." She stated that elected officials responded to public criticism of the criminal justice system by limiting their use of executive clemency. Barkow also noted in an email to Ballotpedia that beginning in 1978, the U.S. Attorney General delegated supervisory authority over clemency
to the Deputy Attorney General who also supervises federal prosecutions.
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Local Roundup
We cover all officeholders in the nation's 100 largest cities, plus every election on the ballot in these cities, such as special districts, county officials, and local ballot measures. Here's what's happening in those cities.
Twenty-nine mayoral elections will be held in the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2020.
In 15 of the 29 cities that are holding elections in 2020, the incumbent is Republican. Twelve incumbents are Democratic, one is independent, and one is nonpartisan. More than half of the cities with Republican mayors will hold elections this year.
The current partisan breakdown of the mayors of the 100 largest cities is 64 Democrats, 29 Republicans, three independents, and four that are nonpartisan. Democratic mayors led 61 of the 100 largest cities at the beginning of 2019, 63 at the start of 2018, 64 at the beginning of 2017, and 67 at the start of 2016.
The year’s first mayoral election took place on Tuesday—Feb. 18—in Milwaukee. In that race, incumbent Tom Barrett finished first in the primary, receiving 50% of the vote. He will face Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor—who finished second with 31%—in the general election on April 7. Although municipal elections in Milwaukee are nonpartisan, both Barrett and Taylor have run for office as Democrats.
Five cities in California that are among the 100 largest U.S. cities—Bakersfield, Fresno, Riverside, Sacramento, and Stockton—are holding mayoral elections on March 3. Going into those elections, the mayors of two of those cities are Republicans, two are Democrat, and Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey is an independent.
To learn more about the partisan affiliation of mayors in cities holding elections in 2020, click the link below.
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Take our newest Learning Journey on executive control over regulatory review
So far this year, we've launched five new Learning Journeys. We just debuted our newest one yesterday on executive control over regulatory review. Previous Learning Journeys have focused on executive control in the administrative state, executive appointment and removal power, the civil service, and executive reorganization authority.
This newest Learning Journey guides you through the definition of regulatory review, the executive’s role in the process and how it’s developed over the last 30 years, and the arguments for and against greater executive involvement in the regulatory review process.
Our Learning Journeys send you a series of emails with information, examples, and exercises to help you understand the concept. It’s a great way to take something complicated and break it down into smaller pieces of information that are more fun to read and easier to follow.
Along the way, you’ll be able to contact us with any questions and comments you may have. You can also set how frequently you receive these messages—daily, weekly, or in-between. Oh, and one other great feature? It’s free! Click the link below to get started.
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The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns.
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