bendog
Diamond Member
Yes. That was the basis for the DOJ concluding Nixon could not pardon himself. But it's never been decided in a court. And Richard Posner's opinion was that a president could pardon himself. But there's a link to the constitution center I put up that considers different opinions. There's also an article in the Atlantic (where you can look a three free articles a month) that discusses "original intent" and the 18th century use of the verb "grant.""No man can judge his own cause"Trump appointed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. They are on his side.No, they haven't, because no president has ever done such an unethical thing....Nixon came close..... but no cigar!
I doubt the supreme court would determine the founding fathers of the Constitution, planned for criminal presidents to grant pardons to themselves for their own crimes, when the constitution says presidents can be prosecuted after impeachment from office....every president could just pardon themselves and live in lawlessness....
Would the supreme court really set precedent for every president to be lawless their entire term with no fear of ever being prosecuted for their crimes? Heck no!
We are a Nation of laws, not men.
As president, making the judgement that a pardon or clemency is deserved by a criminal....and the President granting such pardon to the repentant criminal is absolutely within his presidential power...
However, it can not be granted, to himself.... because no man can be a judge in his own cause...
(He doesn't have the power to forgive his own sins, (crimes) he's not allowed to make that judgement...No man is allowed to do such, legally)
Nemo judex in causa sua (or nemo judex in sua causa) is a Latin phrase that means, literally, "no-one is judge in his own cause." It is a principle of natural justice that no person can judge a case in which they have an interest.
Nemo iudex in causa sua - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemo_iudex_in_causa_sua
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemo_iudex_in_causa_sua
Imo allowing a president to pardon himself is counter-intuitive. Presidents CAN be impeached, convicted and removed from office. The constitution doesn't say they're above the law; it says the opposite. They can be prosecuted in Court. The Supreme Court only held in the 1990s that Clinton could be sued, but in the last two years they seem to say Trump cannot be. There's no doubt they can be sued and tried and even put in jail AFTER they are not president anymore.
Gerald Ford did the profile in courage thing when he pardoned Nixon. Nixon was politically destroyed and lost all power. Nothing positive could come from him being sent to a country club prison for a few months.
But the federal govt is not going to prosecute Trump. Biden's not even going to let the DOJ pursue Trump for back taxes.