The Office of the Pardon Attorney assists the president of the United States in his exercise of executive clemency as authorized by Article II, Section 2, of the US Constitution. It is part of the United States Department of Justice and is in consultation with the Attorney General of the United States or his delegate.
Under the Constitution, the president's clemency power extends only to federal criminal offenses. All requests for executive clemency for federal offenses are directed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for investigation and review. The pardon attorney prepares the department's recommendation to the president for final disposition of each application.
Executive clemency may take several forms, including pardon, conditional pardon, commutation of sentence, conditional commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, respite, reprieve and amnesty. A pardon may be posthumous. The Office of the Pardon Attorney currently has a staff that includes the Deputy Pardon Attorney, an executive officer, four staff attorneys, and its clerical staff and paralegals who assist in the review of petitions.[1]
The power of clemency is "one of the most unlimited powers bestowed on the president by the Constitution."[2]