pardonArticle Free Pass pardon, in law, release from guilt or
remission of punishment. In criminal law the power of pardon is
generally exercised by the chief executive officer of the state.
Pardons may also be granted by a legislative body, often through
an act of indemnity, anticipatory or retrospective, for things
done in the public interest that are illegal. A pardon may be
full or conditional. It is conditional when its effectiveness
depends on fulfillment of a condition by the offender, usually a
lesser punishment, as in the commutation of the death sentence.
The effect of a full pardon is unclear in some jurisdictions. In
England it is said that a full pardon clears the person from all
infamy, removing all disqualifications and other obloquy, so
that a pardoned person may take action for defamation against
anyone who thereafter refers to him as a convict. In the United
States the matter is much less clear, although the Supreme Court
has held that a pardon blots out guilt and makes the offender
“as inno