Show HN: Pardonned.com – A searchable database of US Pardons
A new site, Pardonned.com, aggregates U.S. presidential pardons into a searchable database, highlighting trends in clemency such as rising pardon counts, mass commutations, and large amounts of abandoned fines and restitution. Commenters praise the tool for making opaque DOJ records accessible and suggest deeper analysis by offense type, money flows, and political connections. The project also rekindles broader debate over whether the largely unchecked pardon power is a necessary safety valve in a flawed justice system or an anti-democratic relic prone to abuse and self-dealing.
Project reception & scope
- Many commenters praise the site as exactly the kind of civic data tool government should have built but didn’t.
- Several find it engaging to explore overall statistics then drill into individual cases.
- Some see the name “Pardonned” as a deliberate wordplay, especially linked to Trump.
Data quality, coverage, and quirks
- Multiple users flag inconsistencies: Obama’s two terms combined in one figure, missing or misparsed restitution amounts, and miscounted time-reduced for people already having served years.
- DOJ’s own inconsistent formatting and term-splitting is a recurring obstacle; the project owner acknowledges parser fixes are needed.
- Cases like Trevor Milton and a repeat beneficiary (commutation under a former name, later pardon) highlight challenges with tracking fines and identity links.
- The site currently calculates “restitution/fines abandoned” only when amounts appear in DOJ text.
Desired analyses and features
- Users request breakdowns by offense category (drug, financial, fraud), monetary value of linked donations or lobbying, and demographic/contextual data (race, age, connections, donations).
- Interest in comparing pardons and commutations across presidents, including mass drug commutations.
- Some want deeper tooling: filters on fines, repeat-offender tracking, public raw data (JSON/SQLite), or even linked-data/SPARQL.
Debate over the pardon power
- Strong contingent argues presidential pardons are archaic, monarchic, and structurally anti-democratic; many call for abolition or heavy reform (no preemptive pardons, caps per term, legislative review).
- Others defend pardons as a necessary “release valve” to correct miscarriages of justice, respond to shifting norms (e.g., harsh drug sentences), or prevent violent power struggles and vengeful prosecutions.
- Preemptive pardons are particularly contentious: some see them as absurd blanket immunity; others note historical precedents (Nixon, draft dodgers) and argue they can be legitimate.
- Several point out that changing the pardon power would require a constitutional amendment, and that case law currently interprets it as very broad.
Justice system and political context
- Commenters emphasize overlong drug sentences, mandatory minimums, three-strikes laws, and overcrowded prisons as drivers of clemency.
- The “trial penalty” and plea-bargain coercion are cited as reasons many innocent or overcharged defendants plead guilty; pardons and commutations are viewed by some as partial correction.
- There is heated discussion about recent presidents’ use of pardons for allies, family, and donors, and about partisan double standards in how different administrations’ pardons are judged.
- Some worry the combination of broad pardon power, politicized prosecution, and recent immunity rulings creates serious potential for future abuse.