Under the Constitution, a president has full authority to issue pardons to those convicted of federal crimes. You might guess that particularly liberal presidents would issue particularly many pardons, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At least it's not the case with Barack Obama, who, of modern presidents, has been the most parsimonious is granting clemency.
Last week he pardoned 17 people, all for nonviolent offenses. He previously had granted 22 pardons. The next most stingy...
