One of the joys of the internet is to be able to find and read experts who really know a topic when it becomes national news. This means when we find those voices, we don’t have to depend on reporters who use the find-a-nearby-professor-and-let-him-talk (regardless of whether that particular professor actually knows anything about the topic).
With the recent kerfuffle about one of the president’s Christmas pardons, we’ve had the usual round of what turns out to be misinformation– and now, thanks to the internet, a perfect antidote– the PardonPower blog. It’s run by P.S. Ruckman Jr., a political science professor in Illinois about to publish a book on the excercise of the pardon power, and he is deeply knowledgeable about both the historical use of the pardon power and current practices and procedures (including links to the CFR and discussions of specific examples of pardon revocations back into the 19th century). He also runs stuff from lawyers who worked in the Justice Department’s office that normally processes pardons. If you like reading a knowledgable expert sort through the stuff you read in the news, this one is highly recommended.
h/t Talking Points for the recommendation (in a post on the pardon revocation that itself is really interesting).
