Pardons are given out for wrongful convictions all the time, what the hell are these people on?
It's actually rather rare to grant a pardon on the explicit basis of actual innocence. Generally, the President simply issues a pardon or commutation without other explanation, as the power has no real limits other than the potential self-pardon or preemptive pardons of as-yet unprosecuted crimes.
Anyway, the language was from
Burdick which, while I believe it is not explicitly overruled, simply misstates a general principle although getting the case of the person before them correctly. Specifically: "There are substantial differences between legislative immunity and a pardon; the latter carries an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it, while the former is noncommittal, and tantamount to silence of the witness."
Burdick v. United States,
236 U.S. 79 (1915).
The specific principle of the case is that someone pardoned can refuse to accept it, and the finding is that the defendant in the case must affirmatively consent to it, such as by introducing the pardon into the case by motion or otherwise.
The general principle doesn't make sense, though, and doesn't explain about how someone can be posthumously pardoned, an act the President has undertaken repeatedly throughout history, or any number of edge cases, or the most important example, a pardon explicitly granted based on actual innocence. In those cases, accepting such a pardon clearly is not an admission of guilt.
So he is referencing actual SCOTUS precedent but the statement of principle in that precedent is inconsistent with how the President has traditionally exercised the pardon power.
These people sure like to talk about a Star Trek future while conveniently ignoring the canon. Eugenics Wars? What are those? WW3? Never heard of it.
Maybe the new Star Dreck retconned the past into sunshine and unicorn farts or something. I wouldn't know.
They don't know anything about or care about Trek at all, just signaling to other bug people that they consoom the appropriate product for current year.
Personally, I think ole Gene was a blithering idiot of an optimist, but sometimes I need a little bit of that optimism, and I like and respect his artistic vision, even though he wasn't probably the best person.
Also this. I miss that kind of old school liberalism with optimism for the future that actually stood for the values it claimed to, not the nihilistic monstrosity we have now.
