Pardons: Bush by the Numbers

First we can see that the number of pardon applications during the Bush administration has gradually increased fiscal year, but has remained within the 150 to 250 range (Figure 1). The general range for commutation applications is much wider and higher (from 750 to 1,000). These petitions are, of course, joined by pardon and commutation petitions which are pending from the previous fiscal year. Typically, there have been 500 to 1,000 pardon petitions pending and 1,500 to 2,000 commutation petitions pending (Figure 2). As a result, the total workload of the Office of the Pardon Attorney has looked something like this (Figure 3) during the Bush administration. A reasonable generalization would seem to be 3,500 applications per fiscal year.

As most are aware, Bush has granted very few clemency requests (about 16 per fiscal year, Figure 4) and, like most recent presidents, particularly few commutations of sentence.These grants are barely noticeable in relation to the number of 200-300 petitions that are closed without presidential action (Figure 5) or denied (Figure 6). Indeed, this is what a chart of the number of grants (in yellow) would look like in comparison to then number of petitions that are closed or denied (Figure 7)

SUMMARY: Bush Administration By the Numbers

The data above suggest the follow are reasonable generalizations with respect to the Bush administration and the pardon power in a typical fiscal year:

1,000 to 1,200 new petitions
2,000 to 3,000 pending petitions
200 to 300 petitions closed without presidential action
1,000 plus denied
15 pardons or commutations granted