By Dr. Kevin Rolle, Chief of Staff, Alabama State University
The talk of pardons has been in the news and it’s time to understand what a pardon means. Generally speaking, a pardon is an act of forgiveness which does not wipe out the historical fact of the conviction. In Alabama, a pardon also does not automatically restore a person’s civil rights or political privileges, unless the pardon specifically expresses their restoration.
A person who has forfeited his or her office as a result of a felony conviction is not restored to that particular office by a pardon. Nevertheless, a person may be elected or appointed to office after a conviction if the pardon specifically restores the person’s civil and political rights or it is a full pardon. In fact, that was the question before the Alabama Supreme Court in the case of State ex rel. Sokira v. Burr, 580 So.2d 1340 (1991).
In the case, Burr had been convicted and sentenced to one year and a day in an Alabama state prison. He was subsequently given a full pardon by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. He then ran for mayor.
After he had won the mayoral race, a challenge was filed in court asserting that Burr was barred from holding office. The Alabama Supreme Court disagreed, holding that all of his civil and political rights, including holding office, had been restored by the pardon.
The effect of a pardon is “to relieve the petitioner from all penalties and disabilities attached to the offense … to exclude him, by reason of that offense, from continuing in the enjoyment of a previously acquired right, is to enforce a punishment for that offense notwithstanding the pardon.” Ex parte Garland, 71 U.S. 333,381 (1866).
The President of the United States can pardon a person convicted under federal law but not a person convicted under state or municipal laws. A Governor can pardon a person convicted under state law but not under municipal laws. A mayor has the responsibility for pardoning a person convicted of a municipal offense.