History Main / ThePardon

* ''Film/GuiltByAssociation'': President Clinton commutes a number of prisoners' sentences serving time under the drug laws' mandatory minimums, which gives hope to Susan and others sentenced by the same laws. Later she is one of the other prisoners who have their long sentences commuted too.

** ''Infiltrating the Airship'' starts with Henry being told that, if he helps take down the Toppat Clan according to plan, all charges against him will be dropped. [[spoiler: [[MultipleEndings One ending]] ''does'' end with Henry being given a document certifying that he's been pardoned of all his prior crimes.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Infiltrating the Airship]]'' starts with Henry being told that, if he helps take down the Toppat Clan according to plan, all charges against him will be dropped. [[spoiler: [[MultipleEndings One ending]] ''does'' end with Henry being given a document certifying that he's been pardoned of all his prior crimes.]]

** In fact, the Constitution seems to imply that presidents could even self-pardon themselves for crimes committed in office, but the legalese is in uncharted territory. During the [[ScandalGate Watergate scandal]], the Justice Department informally stated that presidents cannot self-pardon themselves, but the memo lacks legal force. UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon floated this idea at the end of their terms but didn't go through with it. And the argument is that there is such a rule: ''nemo judex in causa sua'', none may be a judge in their own case, a principle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice natural justice]] that would make such a self-dealing pardon a mockery of proper jurisprudence. As such, it would be void immediately.

[[CorruptPolitician Corrupt or evil authorities]] may use it for full blown villains, keeping them in the story.

** This is the center of Franky's backstory. His mentor Tom was put on trial for building the Pirate King's ship, the ''Oro Jackson'', and sentenced to death, but managed to get a stay of execution in exchange for working on the Sea Train, a way of connecting Water 7 with nearby islands. Eventually, he succeeded, and Spandam's attempt to get the plans to Pluton under the justification of Tom being a criminal failed, since Tom was pardoned and (unknown to Spandam) passed the blueprints on to Iceberg. As a result, Spandam and his Cipher Pol 5 operatives stole Franky's ships to frame him, Tom and Iceberg for attacking the courthouse ship. Tom, however, asked that the pardon be used on the crimes of attacking the court ship, and while he was sentenced to death, the Pluton blueprints remained safe.

* ''Fanfic/ThePiratesSoldier'': Ryoko gets a pardon from the Jurai Empire in exchange for becoming Heero's Royal Guard. For her, it's a win-win deal as she not only gets her criminal record erased, but also she gets to be close to him.

* ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'': The protagonist fugitive Soggy Bottom Boys are pardoned of their crimes by Mississippi Governor Pappy O'Daniel (note, irl, O'Daniel was governor of Texas). The sheriff who's been chasing the fugitives doesn't care about the pardon, and tries to hang them anyway.

* ''Film/GuiltByAssociation'': President Clinton commutes a number of prisoners' sentences are serving time under the drug laws' mandatory minimums, which gives hope to Susan and others sentenced by the same laws. Later she is one of the other prisoners who have their long sentences commuted too.
* A Non-Criminal Type: In the movie version of ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'', Errol Flynn's character, Miles Hedon, rescues Prince Edward Tudor, but fails to recognize him (since Tom [the pauper]) is in court. Since Edward still acts like a royal, he forbids Miles from sitting in is presence. Finally, Miles convinces Edward to "grant" him the privilege. Later, after Edward has been crowned king, Miles gets bored during his coronation speech, and sits on the steps of the dias. The other court members are incensed until Edward confirms that he (and all his descendents) can sit in the presence of royalty.

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception'', career criminal Mulch is given an amnesty for all past crimes after saving the city of Haven from being destroyed. He tires to push for all future crimes as well, but is told not to push his luck.
* Happens in ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Victory of Eagles]]'' to Laurence to give him reason to fight in a war not understanding his {{honor before reason}} he would have fought anyway if given the chance and had already done some fighting. However [[spoiler:its revoked (mostly) when England wants Temeraire gone and need a pretext send him away.]]
** Another one is issued to Laurence, complete with restoration of his rank, in ''Crucible of Gold'' along with orders to keep Brazil[=/=]Portugal-in-Exile from being shattered by the the Tswana.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', Elayne pardons Thom Merrilin of any crimes he committed in Andor and Cairhien, including the assassinatin of King Galldrian.

* Chinese literature on filial piety includes the righteous stepmother of Qi. When her son and stepson were found by a murdered man, and both confessed in an obvious attempt to shield each other, she said they should execute her son -- both because her husband had particularly put her stepson in her care, and because it was the place of her son, who was the junior and therefore inferior. For which devotion to duty both men were pardoned.

* ''The Golden Gate'', by Creator/AlistairMacLean. A criminal mastermind holds the President of the United States for ransom on the Golden Gate bridge, and his final demand is a Presidential pardon. The President responds with a ClusterFBomb on live television. There's a sense that, [[FridgeLogic even if this doesn't hold water legally]] because the President is being coerced, the criminal is [[TooFunnyToBeEvil playing to the gallery]] with a RefugeInAudacity.

* In ''Series/Supergirl2015'', the xenophobic Ben Lockwood, alias Agent Liberty is finally captured and defeat by Supergirl, and subsequently jailed, in spite of amassing a following that supports his twisted ideology. [[PresidentEvil President Baker]], who's approval ratings are plummeting thanks to Liberty's imprisonment (not to mention Supergirl quit the D.E.O. when she refused to disclose her secret identity as ordered), decides to issue a pardon for the man under the [[LoopholeAbuse loophole]] that the law offers protection to humans, not the aliens that Lockwood was targeting. He later issues one to [[spoiler: Lex Luthor]] for saving America from invading enemy forces, [[spoiler: as he had been acting as Luthor's pawn since the beginning, as part of a scheme to get Lex right to the top and essentially give him control of the country]]. However, Baker [[spoiler: and his role in the scheme are exposed thanks to Brainiac Five, and he is not only impeached and removed, but Lockwood ends up going down with him]].

* In ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}'', the title character was exiled to the bottom of a river for marrying a mortal (a offense against fairy law punishable by death). To liberate her from this miserable dwelling, the Fairy Queen pardons her in the opening scene.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', a penal unit called the Spare Squadron was created to trick the Eruseans into thinking that Osea had a larger presence on Usea. When the Spare Squadron prove to be [[SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder surprisingly effective]] at carrying out their missions, [[spoiler: with [[PlayerCharacter Trigger]] proving to be a good enough pilot to challenge [[TheDreaded Mihaly]]]], they’re all given a pardon and transfered into the regular forces. [[spoiler: Trigger is further exonerated from his own conviction after further evidence surfaces.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Inflitrating the Airship]]'' starts with Henry being told that, if he helps take down the Toppat Clan according to plan, all charges against him will be dropped. [[spoiler: [[MultipleEndings One ending]] ''does'' end with Henry being given a document certifying that he's been pardoned of all his prior crimes.]]
* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon the White House Heist]], the mother of all heists that [[MissionControl Bain]] planned for a long time. The crew raid the White House and steal blank pardons, to which the crew use to write their own pardons and free themselves from any criminal prosecution they would have faced.

* {{Fanon}} believes that by helping Kim and Ron save the world from the AlienInvasion in the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', not only does [[ArchEnemy Drakken]] receive an award from the U.N, but he and Shego are given a full pardon for all their TakeOverTheWorld attempts.
* In their own series, [[ComicBook/LuckyLuke the Daltons]] were once pardoned for their decisive role in repelling a Mexican invasion. [[StatusQuoIsGod The concept of the series being the Dalton always failing to break out]] and Averell being Averell, the dumbest of the Daltons then reveals he stole the suitcase with the spy gadgets that the president gave them to do the job ''in full view of the president, the US Army and the prison guards'', [[YankTheDogsChain so the Dalton are promptly jailed again on the charge of stealing that]].

* Mass pardons of most or all prison inmates occurred in the tumultous history of Russia during revolutions or power shifts. One of the major ones occurred after Stalin's death: the political prisoners were all released from the gulags, but so were the real crooks. This led to crime skyrocketing in the Soviet Union.

** On a more serious and controversial note, Presidents frequently pardon a number of people when heading out of office for one reason or another. Often this involves pardoning the friends or relatives of top campaign donors, or even their own friends and relatives should any of them be in need of a pardon. This tends to draw even ''more'' criticism when the person being pardon is a fugitive from justice, rather than somebody who actually faced trial and went to prison. But since pardons are the president's only constitutional power that has ''no'' limits placed on it, he literally can pardon anyone he pleases (who is charged with a federal crime; [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFederalism if you're charged with/convicted of a state crime, the President can't help you, although maybe the state's governor can]]) and no one can legally do anything about it.
** In fact, the Constitution seems to imply that presidents could even self-pardon themselves for crimes committed in office, but the legalese is in uncharted territory. During the [[ScandalGate Watergate scandal]], the Justice Department informally stated that presidents cannot self-pardon themselves, but the memo lacks legal force. UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon floated this idea at the end of their terms, but didn't go through with it. And the argument is that there is such a rule: ''nemo judex in causa sua'', none may be a judge in their own case, a principle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice natural justice]] that would make such a self-dealing pardon a mockery of proper jurisprudence. As such, it would be void immediately.
* Some time after the WitchHunt in Salem, Massachusetts, all those convicted were pardoned by the governor.

** After the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar most Confederates up to Lee himself were pardoned. Jefferson Davis underwent two years imprisonment.
*** All Confederates, including Jefferson Davis, were granted Amnesty and Pardon for the crime of treason. Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, however, forbade any Confederate who held a government or military position before the war from holding one after the war unless overriden by a two-thirds vote in each House of Congress. Neither Lee nor Davis received this full re-instatement of citizenship rights until long after their deaths.
* UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar pardoned his political enemies left, right and center. Part of it was strategy and part of it was subtle humiliation - in Roman society being pardoned instead of killed meant you were [[NotWorthKilling kind of a loser]].

** In fact, the Constitution seems to imply that presidents could even self-pardon themselves for crimes committed in office, but the legalese is in uncharted territory. During the [[ScandalGate Watergate scandal]], the Justice Department informally stated that presidents cannot self-pardon themselves, but the memo lacks legal force. UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump floated this idea at the end of his term, but didn't go through with it. And the argument is that there is such a rule: ''nemo judex in causa sua'', none may be a judge in their own case, a principle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice natural justice]] that would make such a self-dealing pardon a mockery of proper jurisprudence. As such, it would be void immediately.

* In an episode of ''Series/KungFu1972'', Caine is approached by a seaman telling him that the Chinese Emperor will give him a pardon if he surrenders himself. It's a lie, albeit one that the Emperor is in on.

** In fact, the Constitution seems to indicate that a president could even self-pardon themselves for crimes committed in office, but the legalese is murky and would open a new can of worms. During the [[ScandalGate Watergate scandal]], the Justice Department informally stated that presidents cannot self-pardon themselves, but the memo lacks legal force. UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump floated this idea at the end of his term, but didn't go through with it. And the argument is that there is such a rule: ''nemo judex in causa sua'', none may be a judge in their own case, a principle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice natural justice]] that would make such a self-dealing pardon a mockery of proper jurisprudence. As such, it would be void immediately.

Too many RealLife examples to list them all -- include only notably striking cases. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has more [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon here]].

* In an episode of ''Series/KungFu'', Caine is approached by a seaman telling him that the Chinese Emperor will give him a pardon if he surrenders himself. It's a lie, albeit one that the Emperor is in on.

* In RobinHood ballads

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'': The epilogue shows a "Pardoned by Order of King Richard" sign covering Robin Hood's wanted poster.

* In their own series, [[ComicBook/LuckyLuke the Daltons]] were once pardoned for their decisive role in repelling a Mexican invasion. [[StatusQuoIsGod The concept of the series being the Dalton always failing to break out]] and [[WhatAnIdiot Averell being Averell, the dumbest of the Daltons then reveals he stole the suitcase with the spy gadgets that the president gave them to do the job]] ''[[TooDumbToLive in full view of the president, the US Army and the prison guards]]'', [[YankTheDogsChain so the Dalton are promptly jailed again on the charge of stealing that]].

** In fact, the Constitution seems to indicate that a president could even self-pardon themselves for crimes committed in office, but the legalese is murky and would open a new can of worms. UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump floated this idea at the end of his term but didn't go through with it.
*** And the argument is that there is such a rule: ''nemo judex in causa sua'', none may be a judge in their own case, a principle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice natural justice]] that would make such a self-dealing pardon a mockery of proper jurisprudence. As such, it would be void immediately.