S3E6 - A Table Talk on Crime-Punishment-and-Pardons

President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly 1,600 people who committed “certain offenses” at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. As these folks return to their homes, how do their communities respond to them? Inspired by a story of one such J6 defendant in the New York Times, Lamar and Tom have a Table Talk on crimes, punishments, and pardons. 

Learn more: 

Pardoned for January 6, She Came Home to a New Reality: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/nyregion/jan-6-capitol-pardon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zU4.-MQ9.AiB_aYF8KsAL&smid=url-share 

Presidential Actions: Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/ 

Presidential Pardons Under Article II (of the U.S. Constitution): https://constitution.findlaw.com/article2/presidential-pardons-under-article-ii.html

A presidential pardon (forgiveness) does not expunge (erase) a person’s conviction. https://www.justice.gov/pardon/frequently-asked-questions 

Expungement and pardoning are two separate processes. https://www.koffellaw.com/blog/little-known-facts-about-expungement/ 

How We Check Ourselves

Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:

• Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/ 

• FactCheck.org - https://www.factcheck.org/ 

• Politifact - https://www.politifact.com/

• RealClearPolitics - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ 

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:

• Media Bias/Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

• All Sides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

• Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart - https://app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/interactive 

Meet Lamar and Tom

Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus are lifelong friends exploring how to get to a 3rd Space - a space where two or mor