- pardon
-
par·don n1: a release from the legal penalties of an offense2: an official warrant of remission of penalty as an act of clemency compare commute3: excuse or forgiveness for a fault or offensepardon vt
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- pardon
-
I
noun
absolution, acquittal, amnesty, clearance, clemency, compurgation, discharge, dismissal, dispensation, exemption from punishment, exoneration, forgiveness, leniency, obliteration of grievances, release, release from penalty, release from punishment, relinquishment, reprieve, venia, vindication
associated concepts: amnesty, commutation, conditional pardon, parole, relief from disabilities, suspended sentence, unconditional pardon
foreign phrases:
- Venlae facilitas incentivum est del inquendi. — Facility of pardon is an encouragement to crime.II verb acquit, cancel a punishment, cancel an offense, condone, deliver, discharge, emancipate, excuse, exonerate, expunge the record of, fail to exact a penalty, forgive, give absolution, grant amnesty, grant clemency, grant forgiveness, grant remission, let loose, liberate, overlook, purge, redeem, release, release from punishment, remission of guilt, reprieve, set at liberty, set free, suspend charges, vindicate III index absolution, absolve, acquit, acquittal, amnesty, clear, clemency, compurgation, condonation, condone, discharge (release from obligation), discharge (liberate), dispensation (exception), emancipation, exculpate, excuse, exonerate, exoneration, extenuate, forgive, free, grace, grace period, impunity, indulgence, liberate, liberation, longanimity, overlook (excuse), palliate (excuse), purge (wipe out by atonement), quit (free of), release, remission, remit (release from penalty), respite (reprieve), vindicate
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
- pardon
-
v.To forgive; to release a convicted criminal from liability for his or her crime; to absolve.n.An act by a governor, president, or other government official releasing a convicted criminal from punishment for a crime and reinstating his or her former level of civil liberties.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- pardon
-
See royal pardon.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
- pardon
-
To use the executive power of a governor or president to forgive a person charged with a crime or convicted of a crime, thus preventing any prosecution and removing any remaining penalties or punishments. A pardon is distinguished from "a commutation of sentence," which cuts short the term; "a reprieve," which is a temporary halt to punishment, particularly the death penalty, pending appeal or determination of whether the penalty should be reduced; "amnesty," which is a blanket forgiving of possible criminal charges due to a change in public circumstances (such as the end of a war or the draft system) or a "reduction in sentence," which shortens a sentence and can be granted by a judge or an executive. Sometimes called a commutation.Category: Criminal LawCategory: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
- pardon
-
The action of an executive official of the government that mitigates or sets aside the punishment for a crime.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
- pardon
-
I
The action of an executive official of the government that mitigates or sets aside the punishment for a crime.II An act of grace from governing power which mitigates punishment and restores rights and privileges forfeited on account of the offense.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
- pardon
-
1) v. to use the executive power of a Governor or President to forgive a person convicted of a crime, thus removing any remaining penalties or punishments and preventing any new prosecution of the person for the crime for which the pardon was given. A pardon strikes the conviction from the books as if it had never occurred, and the convicted person is treated as innocent. Sometimes pardons are given to an older rehabilitated person long after the sentence has been served to clear his/her record. However, a pardon can also terminate a sentence and free a prisoner when the chief executive is convinced there is doubt about the guilt or fairness of the trial, the party is rehabilitated and has performed worthy public service, or there are humanitarian rea-sons such as terminal illness. The most famous American pardon was the blanket pardon given by President Gerald Ford to ex-President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Nixon's resignation; that pardon closed the door to any future prosecu- tion against Nixon for any crime before the pardon. A pardon is distinguished from "a commutation of sentence" which cuts short the term; "a reprieve," which is a temporary halt to punishment, particularly the death penalty, pend- ing appeal or determination of whether the penalty should be reduced; "amnesty," which is a blanket "forgetting" of possible criminal charges due to a change in public circumstances (such as the end of a war or the draft system); or a "reduction in sentence," which shortens a sentence and can be granted by a judge or an executive.
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
