Commuting a Prison Sentence: Some Guys have all the Luck
The separation of powers is a cornerstone to any democratic system of government. “The leading principle of our Constitution is the independence of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary of each other.” Thomas Jefferson to George Hay, 1807. This week US President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of Roger Stone, relieving his long-time confidant from the execution of his sentence. Stone was convicted after a jury found that he had broken the law multiple times by lying to Congress and obstructing justice.[FN1] When the political executive (in this case the President) uses its power to commute a prison sentence or pardon a crime, there is real danger to the constitutional separation of powers and to the integrity of the judicial process. The commutation of a sentence or the pardoning of a crime by a political actor should not be a matter of simple executive fiat, but rather the exercise of an extraordinary power subject to a series of careful checks and b...