Romney: The New Eisenhower?

Barack Obama has made cursory mention of "Scooter Libby justice" a staple of campaign speeches (usually in connection with the ever politically relevant Paris Hilton). But, in this Des Moines Register article, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says that he will institute (or at least use) specific "guidelines" to direct his clemency decisions as president. So far as I know, this makes Romney the first candidate to suggest that there is in fact something wrong with the clemency process and, at the same time, the first to actually offer concrete ideas about reform. Why, we haven't heard this kind of rhetoric since Dwight Eisenhower beat up on Harry S Truman for late-term, non-"transparent" / "controversial" pardons! Among other things, the article notes (my commentary is interspersed):

Mitt Romney promised Monday that as president he would enact rules to guide his decisions to grant or reject pardons of criminals - a proposal he said would remove concerns about pardons being given arbitrarily. Speaking in this Mississippi River town, he portrayed the announcement as a concern that dated to Bill Clinton's presidency. But Romney has hammered Republican Mike Huckabee on pardons he granted as governor of Arkansas.

The concern should be dated back to George Washington's presidency, or that of John Adams - at the very latest - but, arguably, this is a whole lot of nothing anyway. There are already rules to "guide" pardon decisions. And they have been around for some time now. The questions is whether or not Romney, as president, would follow such "guidelines" in any and every circumstance?

Romney said he enacted similar guidelines when he was governor of Massachusetts. Those required a "good citizenship" determination by a parole board and a "verified, compelling and specific need" for a pardon. Commutations would be limited to inmates who made "exceptional strides" in self-development or to those suffering from a terminal illness, or in cases when further incarceration would constitute "gross unfairness."

The obvious things to note are 1) the pardon power has all but disappeared from his state.Is that his intention - or the desired result - for the federal system as well? and 2) the announced conditions would seem not to include Scooter Libby (note that it says "further incarceration")! Romney, however, has already indicated that he would pardon Libby. So much for the "guidelines." They appear D.O.A.

Romney said his proposal would ensure "there will never be a question in this country again about whether these are being handed out for political purposes or being handed out in a capricious or arbitrary matter."

Earth to Romney: there will always be someone who will question the validity of a pardon. Pardon Scooter Libby and you will see!

... Romney blamed former President Clinton for using the pardon excessively. Clinton issued 140 pardons during his presidency, including some that were criticized because the recipients had ties to him.

It seems quite an amazing stretch to say that President Clinton used the pardon power "excessively," but who knows what standard Romney has in mind. But, ultimately, the pardon problem is the child of the Constitutional Convention (which gave the very oddly inserted pardon power very little attention) and the United States Supreme Court's 1833 decision in the case U.S. v. Wilson. As a result, Bill Clinton was never really the cause. He, and many other presidents, have simply been the effect.