Not a quiz. Nothing here is scored, and there is no right answer. You pick a move and find out what the rulebook actually lets you do. First you sit in the President’s chair, then in Nebraska’s. At the end you see what really happened this month.
Moves 1–5: you are the President of the United States. The Constitution gives you the power to grant clemency, and that includes more than one kind.
Moves 6–7: you are Nebraska’s Governor, facing requests about state crimes. The rulebook changes.
Move 8 is a question we couldn’t answer, and we tell you that.
Try all eight. The surprise is what even a president can’t do.
This month, two federal sentences for marijuana conspiracy ended early. One was 120 months, from a federal court in Virginia. The other was 360 months, from a federal court in Texas. Both were cut to time served. Published clemency records list both as commutations, not pardons.
Both men went home. Both convictions stand. A pardon would be a separate act. (Marijuana Herald, from federal clemency records)
That’s Move 1, exactly. You just learned what it can do, and what it leaves behind.
| Pardon | Commutation | |
|---|---|---|
| Changes | Forgives the offense | Shortens the punishment |
| Conviction stays? | Yes. Both show on the record | Yes |
| Erases the record? | No. Only a court can | No |
| President can use it for | Federal offenses only | |
| In Nebraska, for state crimes | The Board of Pardons: Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, by majority vote | |
The September 3 commutations come from published clemency records, as reported. We have not yet checked them against the Justice Department’s own list of grants. When we do, this line changes.
Move 8 (clemency before charges are filed) is left blank on purpose. We haven’t read the case law, and a confident answer we haven’t checked is worse than no answer.
Nebraska’s rule is quoted from the Board of Pardons’ own website. We have not yet read the text of Article IV, Section 13 of the state constitution directly.
This page won’t tell you whether anyone should have been granted clemency. It tells you what the power is, what it isn’t, and who holds it where you live.
The same rules as a five-minute read, with every source linked.
Episode 1You Are the GovernorA Senate seat opens. Four of six moves are legal. One is off-limits forever.
Here at homeNebraska Board of PardonsHow to apply, when the board meets, and who sits on it.
The primary sourceDOJ Pardon Attorney FAQWhere every federal rule on this page is quoted from.