White House Says They Cannot Pardon Steven Avery

The White House has finally responded to the 355k signature petition signed by those wanting the President to pardon Making A Murderer subject Steven Avery. If you haven't read the title of the post already, they said they could not pardon him, even if they wanted to. Their official response is as follows...

"Under the Constitution, only federal criminal convictions, such as those adjudicated in the United States District Courts, may be pardoned by the President...

There's a camp of people that will say "bull s***. He's the President. He can do what he wants," but those people are probably the first to talk about the importance of state vs. federal rights. Truthfully, it looks like if anyone can give Steven Avery leniency, it's going to be the state of Wisconsin...which doesn't look likely.

I've read more and more on this whole thing as it's been in the news, and while I'm not sure that Steven Avery is innocent, I don't think he will ever see a retrial on the grounds that he was already seen as guilty in the public eye. Imagine the precedent it would set for guys like Scott Peterson and various other high profile cases where the case has already been adjudicated. On the other hand, it could offer hope to many men unjustifiably locked up with holes in their case.

Obviously, if it were cut and dried we wouldn't still be discussing it.