President Trump pardons Stephanie Mohr

The mainstream media is trying to make it look like President Trump is doling out pardons almost exclusively to his cronies and former allies. In this post, I’m thrilled to report that Trump has pardoned Stephanie Mohr. She’s neither a crony nor an ally of the president. She’s a former police officer whose lengthy sentence, which she served in full, shocks my conscience.

I wrote about Mohr’s case in some detail here. The White House issued this statement about her pardon:

Ms. Mohr was a police officer in Prince George’s County where she achieved the distinction of being the first female canine handler in the Department’s history. She served 10 years in prison for releasing her K-9 partner on a burglary suspect in 1995, resulting in a bite wound requiring ten stitches.

Officer Mohr was a highly commended member of the police force prior to her prosecution. Today’s action recognizes that service and the lengthy term that Ms. Mohr served in prison.

(Emphasis added)

This statement appears in a longer announcement of 29 pardons. Two of those pardoned are cronies or former allies — Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. There’s also a pardon for Charles Kushner, Jared’s father. It’s possible that a few of the others pardoned have a connection to the president I don’t know about.

However, the vast majority of the pardons in this batch are for people who, like Stephanie Mohr, have no connection to Trump. In most cases, like Stephanie Mohr’s, the individual served his or her sentence and has gone on to lead an exemplary, if not an extraordinary, life. In some cases, like Mohr’s, the person served a considerably longer sentence than seems, at least on the surface, to have been just. In some cases, like Mohr’s, the individual pardoned served the community in a law enforcement capacity.

Except for Mohr’s case, I’m not in a position to express an opinion on the merits of any particular pardon granted to non-cronies or allies. Collectively, though, they look like a reasonable exercise of the president’s undeniable power to pardon.

The Mohr pardon is more than that. It’s a partial redress of an injustice.

Congratulations are in order not just to Stephanie Mohr, but also to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), which fought on her behalf for 13 years.

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