Presidential Pardons and Recidivism

In my previous post (here), I observed some notable instances of individuals who were pardoned and, afterward, returned to a life of crime, or committed additional offenses - much to the embarrassment of the presidents who were merciful to them. The discussion was prompted by an article over at The Hill, where Patrick Fitzgerald and Ilan Wurman discuss three individuals who were pardoned by Bill Clinton who, afterward, found themselves in "further trouble with the government" (Rodger Clinton, Marc Rich and Glenn Braswell). All three of the pardons were the focus of Congressional "investigations."

In order to provide additional light on pardons and recidivism, The Hill quoted Douglas Berman (an expert on sentencing policy) who suggested the "inevitable realities" about many of the individuals that seek pardons might lead one to guess that repeat offenders are a common lot in the typical pool of clemency recipients or, at the very least, their presence is probably not a freakish rarity. As Professor Berman put it, "Tigers don't tend to change their stripes all that much." The examples one sees throughout history suggests Prof. Berman is probably correct but this happens to be one of the very few clemency related topics where empirical research has been conducted. That is to say, on the topic of presidential pardons and recidivism, there is no need to guess, simply use one's intuition or rely entirely upon anecdotes.

The Annual Report of the Attorney General for 1975 summarizes two studies of presidential pardons and recidivism. So far as I know, they are the only two studies that have ever been conducted on the topic. The first focused on 195 persons who received presidential pardons in fiscal year 1965. In that year, there were 783 petitions for clemency pending from the previous year and 1,008 new requests. So, the 195 pardons that were granted represented about 11 percent of the pool of clemency applicants. The study found that about 3 percent of those pardoned were convicted - afterward - for criminal behavior.

In fiscal year 1960, there were 398 applications pending and 437 new applicants. So, the 149 pardons that were granted represented about 18 percent of the pool of clemency applicants. A study of that group of recipients found that 4 percent were convicted of crimes and, in every instance, they were charged with misdemeanors.