President Biden issued a conglomeration of pardons and commutations, most notoriously for his son. One legal observer notes that “this act shattered not only every ethical principle of his office, but also every promise made to the public."
According to The Economist, Biden “applies one set of rules to himself and his family and another to the people he serves”. Biden took an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." He took the oath of George Washington, “the father of his country." After four years he can then revert to just being the father of Hunter.
Biden also violated the Constitutional separation of powers. The pardon is the executive authority to suspend the law in a discrete case where the general rules would not serve their purpose. It is a discrete act for a discrete case.
This agglomeration of pardons and commutations, some prospective, alters entire cases to which the law otherwise would apply. This is in fact legislating instead of executing. The danger that the pardon could subvert legislation was discussed during the ratification of the Constitution. James Madison suggested impeachment as an effective deterrent. Good luck with that.
I am Bob Evans and that is my perspective.
