can we really say this with 100% certainty when the one doing the pardoning doesn't understand a single thing about the law and is directly breaking it on the regular?
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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It actually does the opposite, pardoning someone means that you're confirming they committed the crime.
You can't be pardoned for something you didn't do. Which is why some people have actually refused pardons, because they were innocent and didn't feel they should be pardoned because it inferred guilt.
You can't be pardoned for something you didn't do.
Sure you can.
Even ignoring stuff like preemptive pardons, a pardon relinquishes you from the Justice System's punishment. Conviction doesn't mean you did it.. So there exists the potential for a pardon to be issued for someone that was wrongly convicted.
Yes and in some scenarios of what you're talking about the person has declined the pardon because it would legally mean they are guilty of that crime that they were wrongly convicted for. Most people though accept the pardon even if they didn't do it because this battle of semantics means little when you're getting fucked in prison.
Obviously not everyone convicted of a crime committed that crime, our justice system is nowhere near perfect.
But legally speaking, if you accept a pardon, you are admitting guilt. You can not be pardoned if you didn't do the crime (in the eyes of the law). If you pardon someone you're essentially forgiving them for their actions.
How can you forgive someone for something they didn't do? How can you accept forgiveness for something you didn't do? If you didn't do it you wouldn't need forgiveness.
Also there is debate on if pre-emptive pardons are even a thing. I'd be of the camp that no, they are not a thing. So I will ignore them because they don't exist lol
How can you be relinquished from punishment from the justice system if you weren't found guilty by the justice system? If you weren't guilty (again in the eyes of the law) then you won't be "punished".
Also want to be clear. The innocence project is a great organization, and I do appreciate you bringing them up lol