Limits to pardon powers

But there are limits to presidential clemency, and already, Trump has brushed against them.

In December, Trump announced that he would pardon Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who supported Trump’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Peters, however, was also convicted of state-level crimes, after she used her office to allow an unauthorised person to access her county’s election software.

A president may only pardon federal charges, not state ones. Peters continues to serve a nine-year prison sentence. Still, Trump has sought to pressure Colorado officials to release her.

“She did nothing wrong,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!”

While Trump has argued that presidents have the “complete power to pardon”, legal experts have repeatedly affirmed that clemency is not without bounds.

Pardons, for example, cannot be used to avoid impeachment or to undercut the Constitution, nor can they be used to absolve future crimes.

Still, the question remains how to enforce those limits — and whether new bulwarks should be created to prevent abuse.

Love points to the state pardon systems as models to emulate. Delaware, for example, has a Board of Pardons that hears petitions in public meetings and makes recommendations to the governor. More than half of the petitions are granted.

Like other successful clemency systems, Love said it offers public accountability.

She measures that accountability by certain standards: “Can people see what’s going on? Do they know what the standards are, and is the decider a respected and responsible decision-maker?”

Trump’s sweeping actions, however, have prompted calls for presidential pardons to be limited or eliminated altogether.

Osler cautions against doing so: It would be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem”.

“If we constrain clemency, we’ll lose all the good things that come from it,” Osler said.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Canada’s women’s curling team at the Milan Cortina Olympics was accused Saturday of the same violation that prompted an expletive-laden outburst from a Canadian men’s curler a day earlier.

The latest accusation in a controversy that has divided the curling community led to more tense moments on the ice at the Cortina Curling Center.

In the first end of the women’s game against Switzerland, which the Swiss ultimately won 8-7, officials called a foul, saying that skip Rachel Homan had touched her stone again after releasing it.

In curling, that’s known as “double-touching,” and it’s against the rules.

Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canada ’s Marc Kennedy of the same infraction during Canada’s 8-6 win in round-robin play late Friday. On the ice, Kennedy repeatedly used profanity while denying he broke any rules. Although video of his throw appeared to confirm the accusation, Kennedy maintained his innocence into Saturday and went so far as to accuse Sweden of having a “premeditated” plan.

Though the Canadian women were not as fired up in response to the allegation of double-touching, they surely looked incredulous after the call.

“Like, absolutely not,” said Homan, who is known as one of the best skips in the world. “Zero-percent chance.”

Homan’s teammate, Emma Miskew, could be heard briefly engaging with an official on the sidelines, asking why video could not be used to review the call. The official explained that the team needed to trust the umpire. By rule, World Curling does not use video to review game play.

Before restarting the match, the Canadian women huddled with their coaches. Expletives could be heard from those in the circle, though it was not clear who uttered them.

After the game, Homan said she felt she’d been unfairly scrutinized because of the controversy on the men’s side.

“I don’t understand the call. I’ll never understand it. We’ve never done that,” she said. “It has nothing to do with us.”

After an early win over Denmark, the Canadian women have lost their last three matches. They lost to the United States on Friday, the first time in Olympic history that the U.S. had beaten Canada in women’s curling.

Also in women’s action on Saturday, Sweden women beat Italy 8-6, Denmark beat Korea 6-3 and the U.S. beat Japan 7-4.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Anti-Iran regime protesters gathered in major cities across the globe on Saturday calling for a leadership change in the Global Day of Action Rally.

Over 250,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany on Saturday on the backdrop of the Munich Security Conference.

“With the number of participants recorded, this gathering is one of the largest rallies held in Munich in recent years,” the Munich Police reported in a press release. “The peaceful atmosphere is particularly noteworthy, despite the high number of participants in the meeting.”

IRAN REGIME REPORTEDLY ISSUED NATIONWIDE SHOOT-TO-KILL ORDERS AS PROTEST DEATH TOLL SURGES

Crowds reportedly chanted “change, change, regime change” and “democracy for Iran” with green-white-and-red flags with lion and sun emblems waving in the air with a few “Make Iran Great Again” red hats spotted.

Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi was among the hundreds of thousands protesting, telling Reuters, a possible attack on Iran will either weaken the regime or accelerate its fall.

“It’s a matter of time. We are hoping that this attack will expedite the process and the people can be finally back in the streets and take it all the way to the ultimate regime’s downfall,” said Pahlavi.

He shared that he hopes President Trump will have the United States intervene and “have the people’s back.”

UPROAR AFTER IRAN NAMED VICE-CHAIR OF UN BODY PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, WOMEN’S RIGHTS

On Friday, President Trump said regime change in Iran would be the “best thing” to happen while speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

“People are hoping that at some point the decision will be made that there’s no use, there’s no point, we’re not going to get anywhere with negotiations,” said Pahlavi. “”Intervention is a way to save lives.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was present in Munich for the security conference and echoed a similar sentiment in a sideline interview on Friday.

NIKKI HALEY URGES TRUMP TO MAKE IRAN ACTION A ‘LEGACY-DEFINING MOMENT’ BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE

“There’s no negotiating with these people, in my view. They’re hell-bent on enacting an agenda based on religion that teaches them to lie, teaches them to destroy in the name of God,” said Graham.

He shared that the regime is the weakest they have been since 1979, adding, “it is a regime with American blood on its hand,” calling on protesters to “keep protesting.”

The senator also took the stage at the Global Day of Action speaking to the crowd and holding up a “Make Iran Great Again” black hat.

Large demonstrations were also held in Toronto, Melbourne, Athens, Tokyo, London, and Los Angeles.

An estimated 350,000 people marched on the streets of Toronto, the city’s police spokesperson, Laura Brabant, told the Associated Press (AP).

Iranian American activist and Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Sheila Nazarian told Fox News Digital the protests across the globe represent a universal truth. 

“When regimes silence their people, the people eventually find their voice. Whether in the streets of Tehran or in diaspora communities around the world,” she said.

Nazarian left Iran when she was 6 years old along with her family.

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“As someone who came to this country from Iran, I know firsthand that these protests are not about politics, they’re about basic human dignity, women’s rights, and the fundamental freedom to live without fear,” she added. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.