Video: Blumenthal Announces Plans to Introduce a Constitutional Amendment to Limit Presidential Pardon Power

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - During a press conference on Thursday discussing legislative efforts to implement guardrails on the presidential pardon power, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced that he intends to introduce a constitutional amendment that would dramatically "cut and curb" the president's virtually unrestricted power to circumvent the criminal justice system in the issuance of clemency.

"I'm also going to be drafting and submitting a constitutional amendment that would cut and curb the pardon power. The reason is quite simply that this power is almost unique in having no checks and balances - a black box that could and has resulted in tremendous injustice as well as harm to the criminal justice system," Blumenthal said.

"You know, the pardon power originally derived from the English monarchy, who has or had the power to pardon people. And the Founders took that power and granted it to our Chief Executive in the same way that the monarch has it, but that kind of absolutely, unbridled power at this point really needs some not only guardrails, but restrictions - it needs to be cut and curbed so that it is not absolute in the same way, and a constitutional amendment is required for that kind of advance."

The presidential pardon power is one of the few nearly unilateral authorities granted by the Constitution with very few checks and balances. The Supreme Court has recognized this power as "unlimited" except in rare cases. Because this authority is laid out so explicitly in the Constitution, significant changes to limit or reduce the pardon power would require a constitutional amendment, a process that requires a vote of two-thirds in the House of Representatives and the Senate and then ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures. Given the difficult and lengthy process of amending the Constitution, Blumenthal has also proposed narrower reforms to the pardon power - including the Pardon Transparency and Accountability Act and the Abuse of Pardon Prevention Act, led by U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

The full video of Blumenthal remarks at Thursday's press conference is available here. His comments about the introduction of a constitutional amendment occurs around the 2:00 mark. The transcript of those comments is available below.

"I'm also going to be drafting and submitting a constitutional amendment that would cut and curb the pardon power. The reason is quite simply that this power is almost unique in having no checks and balances - a black box that could and has resulted in tremendous injustice as well as harm to the criminal justice system. This measure would require that there be some objective and independent criteria as well as perhaps some body to make decisions independently of the President."

"Think about the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has ten full-time members, five part-time, specific criteria such as the impact on the victim and on others who may be involved, consideration of work history, rehabilitation - all kinds of specific criteria that are spelled out in the legislation. Of course, in our constitution, the pardon power is vested in the legislature, not in the executive branch, and so the Board of Pardons and Paroles is understandably a creature of the legislature defined by the General Assembly."

"But the model or the concept is roughly the same, and I will be drafting a constitutional amendment that incorporates that basic concept."

"You know, the pardon power originally derived from the English monarchy, who has or had the power to pardon people. And the Founders took that power and granted it to our Chief Executive in the same way that the monarch has it, but that kind of absolutely, unbridled power at this point really needs some not only guardrails, but restrictions - it needs to be cut and curbed so that it is not absolute in the same way, and a constitutional amendment is required for that kind of advance."

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