"Humanity and good policy conspire to dictate, that the benign prerogative of pardoning should be as little as possible fettered or embarrassed. The criminal code of every country partakes so much of necessary severity, that without an easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel." So wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 74.
It is hard to challenge the President's view that his son has been excessively targeted largely because he is the President's son. It is hard to believe that right-wingers have suddenly become converts to strong enforcement of gun laws - apart from this one case, where the target is the President's son. Hunter Biden has obviously not behaved admirably over the years, but President Biden is not the first (nor likely will he be the last) president to be encumbered by embarrassing relatives. (The incoming former President famously pardoned his son-in-law's father, whom Chris Christie had prosecuted, whom the President-elect plans to send to France as Ambassador.)
That Hunter Biden may have been "guilty" of the "crimes" in question is somewhat beside the point. After all, a pardon presumes guilt. The pardon power is also a useful corrective when one has been unjustly convicted. But, in most cases, those who are pardoned are at least somewhat guilty of whatever they may be charged with. That is the point. A pardon is noit an exoneration. It is an exercise in clemency. And its use, as Hamilton rightly wrote, is a good corrective to the severities of the justice system. Even today, more than two centuries after Hamilton wrote, American justice still wears "a countenance too sanguinary and cruel." Presidents should pardon more, not less. I hope President Biden exercises his pardon power in more cases in the limited time remaining.
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