PARDON (OF., Fr. pardon, from ML. poi donum, pardon, from perdonarc, to grant, Lat. per, through donare, to give, from donum, gift). An act of grace, exercised by a com petent authority, remitting the penalty imposed by law upon a person who is either guilt.% or accused of a crime or offense against the t;ov ernment. The earliest records of governments contain instances of the exercise of such a par doning power by the sovereign authority, reliev ing an offender from the consequences of a vio lation of a tribal rule, or later of a national law. The main reasons for vesting the chief execu tives of modern nations,with the wide diseretion which they exercise in this regard are to prevent injustice beeanse of the fallibility of human laws. which sometimes work hardship in indi vidual cases, although they may be salutary on the whole; the possibility that a person may be unjustly accused and convicted, which may not be discovered until long afterwards; to make it possible for the supreme authority to release persons convicted and sentenced under laws which are later considered harsh and oppres sive, especially political offenders convicted in a time of great public excitement and discord, as during or at the close of a civil war; and to enable the chief executive to reward in this man ner repentance and good conduct in prison, where he is satisfied that a thorough reform has been effected, and justice satisfied.
In England this power has always been vested in the King. and in early times seems to have been shared to a certain extent by the Lords of the Marches. In 1536 a statute was enacted (27 Hen. VIII., eh. 24) restricting the right to the King. and prohibiting him from delegating it to any subject within the realm. At present the Crown exercises its prerogative upon the advice of the Secretary of State. Parliament has im posed certain restrictions on the power to pardon from time to time. A pardon cannot be pleaded as a defense to an impeachment by the House of Commons. By the 'Habeas Corpus Act' of 1679, the Crown cannot pardon the offense of sending a person to prison without the realm. Where the pardon of an offense will work an injury against an innocent person. it will only be opera tive as far as the culprit's liability to punish ment by the Crown is concerned, and will not affect his civil liability to a person injured by his crime.
In the United States the power to pardon offenses against the national Government is vested. by the Constitution. in the President. His power is absolute, except as to impeachments of public officers, and rests entirely in his, dis cretion, not being subject to legislative control.
Perhaps the greatest number of pardons are granted to soldiers guilty of a breach of the military regulations, especially to volunteers who are unused to rigid military discipline. in most of the States the pardoning power is vested in the Governor alone. Several of the States require the concurrence of one branch of the Legislature. and in a few boards of pardon have been established, of which the Governor is a member en- officio. Applications for a pardon are usually presented in the form of petitions. affi davits of responsible people as to the extenuating '-cu mstances of the case. and the previous good meter of the convicted person; and formal rings on such applications are often held. de necessity for the exercise of this power is 1reativ lessened in some States by statutes al lowing a graduated commutation of a term of imprisonment as a reward for repentance and good conduct in prison. Many penal statutes also allow wide discretion to the trial judge as to sentence to be imposed, in the exercise of which he consider- extenuating circumstances, etc., Just as a “overnor would do on an applica tion for a pardon. The system of releasing pris oners on probation, and suspending sentence of convicted persons, is also a development of the idea of pardon.
Conditional pardons are sometimes granted For example. a prisoner Illay be released On con dition that he leaves the State forever. I In violation of the condition. the ex-prisoncr is again remanded to serve out his original term. A general pardon extended to political offenders, such as rebels, is usually Gilled an act of am nesty (q.v.). A pardon is inure s%%ceping in its effect than a reprieve, which only operates as a suspension of sentence. A full pardon ef fects a remission of the punishment and re move- the legal disabilities which follow con viction, so that a person who is pardoned is. in law, as innocent as if he had never committed the crime, except that it doe- not restore for feited property or tines. in New York. where a final conviction of murder and sentence of death operate as an absolute divorce of husband and wife, if the convicted spouse is pardoned. the marital relation is not thereby restored. A par don obtained by deception or fraud is void, and on discovery of this fact the convicted person may he again committed to serve out his term. Consult the authorities referred to under CON STITUTIONAL Law ; CRIMINAL Law.