After our quiz the other day some of you asked about who President Obama has pardoned. The following link gives you that info and also has an internal link to compare our 44th president with our other 43 presidents.
There are many things I found interesting in this article. Obama has pardoned 23 people which puts him behind George Washington and John Adams for the least amount of pardons by a president. This suprised me and I actually thought Obama might have pardoned more people than many presidents. The average age of people that Obama has pardoned is 61 and I expected it to be around 40. Also, Ruckman says that we might see Obama make more pardons in his second term (if he gets one). Typically, most presidents will grant more pardons in their second term.
Like Jared said, Obama has pardoned 23 people, which were all in the first 40 months of his term. Most of his pardons were on criminals who had drug related crimes. Ruckman explained that historically presdients tend to grant more pardons during their fourth quarter of their term. An example is George W. Bush. His first term he granted 37 pardons, by the end of his 2nd term he granted 32 more. So Obama should grant more pardons based on previous presdients. Jon Machutt Hour 2
When Read this article I was very surprised that it was said he was the least forgiving President out there, but i guess I had a too much of a high expectation. But anyway I guess I just was looking for an article where Obama has pardoned more than 40 people because of what I have heard from him and what he's done. Even though he has not pardoned many I think he will continue to pardon more people as his term is finishing up. Jonathan Quirarte Hour 1
This article was very interesting. Like Jonathan, I thought it was very surprising that President Barack Obama is on track to be considered one of the least forgiving presidents, according to how many pardons he has given out. For some reason, I assumed he would have given more by now; I thought he would be more forgiving and understanding. I also found it interesting when Ruckman said, "Arguably they are most often given to the people who need them the least." When I think of a pardon given by the president, I would think that with that much power, he would use to it to pardon someone with a major sentence, that he believes is unfair, or deserves a second chance. But according to Ruckman a majority of pardons are given for minor things and all it does is restore the convicted persons rights.
When I first learned that Presidents could pardon people, I thought that they would use that power on huge cases where the person who is on trial is really innocent, but no one thinks that. When I first read that Obama only pardoned minor cases, i was confused on why he did that. Personally, I think its smart that President Obama has not given out so many problems because, as the quote goes "You had made your bed, now lay in it" goes for, if you play with drugs, there are consequences and everyone knows that. Why would Obama waste pardons on people who have yet to pay their dues? When I read the paragraph on Eugina Marie Jennings, my views changed a little bit. She is 32 years old and spent 11 years in prison, she's been in prison since she was 21. Obama pardoned her to give her a second chance, and I hope that she will use it to her fullest.
There are many things I found interesting in this article. Obama has pardoned 23 people which puts him behind George Washington and John Adams for the least amount of pardons by a president. This suprised me and I actually thought Obama might have pardoned more people than many presidents. The average age of people that Obama has pardoned is 61 and I expected it to be around 40. Also, Ruckman says that we might see Obama make more pardons in his second term (if he gets one). Typically, most presidents will grant more pardons in their second term.
ReplyDeleteJared Kristo
Hour 1
Like Jared said, Obama has pardoned 23 people, which were all in the first 40 months of his term. Most of his pardons were on criminals who had drug related crimes. Ruckman explained that historically presdients tend to grant more pardons during their fourth quarter of their term. An example is George W. Bush. His first term he granted 37 pardons, by the end of his 2nd term he granted 32 more. So Obama should grant more pardons based on previous presdients.
ReplyDeleteJon Machutt Hour 2
When Read this article I was very surprised that it was said he was the least forgiving President out there, but i guess I had a too much of a high expectation. But anyway I guess I just was looking for an article where Obama has pardoned more than 40 people because of what I have heard from him and what he's done. Even though he has not pardoned many I think he will continue to pardon more people as his term is finishing up.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Quirarte Hour 1
This article was very interesting. Like Jonathan, I thought it was very surprising that President Barack Obama is on track to be considered one of the least forgiving presidents, according to how many pardons he has given out. For some reason, I assumed he would have given more by now; I thought he would be more forgiving and understanding. I also found it interesting when Ruckman said, "Arguably they are most often given to the people who need them the least." When I think of a pardon given by the president, I would think that with that much power, he would use to it to pardon someone with a major sentence, that he believes is unfair, or deserves a second chance. But according to Ruckman a majority of pardons are given for minor things and all it does is restore the convicted persons rights.
ReplyDeleteMegan Byrne
Hour 1
When I first learned that Presidents could pardon people, I thought that they would use that power on huge cases where the person who is on trial is really innocent, but no one thinks that. When I first read that Obama only pardoned minor cases, i was confused on why he did that. Personally, I think its smart that President Obama has not given out so many problems because, as the quote goes "You had made your bed, now lay in it" goes for, if you play with drugs, there are consequences and everyone knows that. Why would Obama waste pardons on people who have yet to pay their dues? When I read the paragraph on Eugina Marie Jennings, my views changed a little bit. She is 32 years old and spent 11 years in prison, she's been in prison since she was 21. Obama pardoned her to give her a second chance, and I hope that she will use it to her fullest.
ReplyDeletekori atkinson