Pardon Me

 

You are charged of a crime for not obeying an established law and investigated and detained by the authorities and called before the court with details of your case presented by a prosecutor before a judge and jury of your peers and you can defend your actions with an attorney before the judge declares your innocence or guilt. You can throw yourself on the mercy of the court and appeal the judgement decision or try to abstain yourself of the potential punishment or beg to be pardoned.

Will the acknowledgement of the wrongful action or an apology get you off the hook?

A pardon is an expression of the president's forgiveness and ordinarily is granted in recognition of the applicant's acceptance of responsibility for the crime and established good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or completion of sentence. It does not signify innocence.

Over the past few days, our President, who was himself convicted for multiple felonies, pardoned a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted of trying to sell deputy’s badges, a Las Vegas politician who stole money intended for a memorial dedicated to fallen police officers, a tax cheat whose mother raised millions of dollars for Republican political campaigns, and a pair of Georgia reality television stars who were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion.

Among his first officials acts as president was to pardon virtually all of the nearly 1,600 defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters and to commute the sentences of the remaining 14. Weeks earlier, the former President had issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses, saying he feared they would be targeted for political reasons by the new administration.

If you perform an etiquette faux pas, such as a loud belch or passing gas, may acknowledge with a “Pardon me” hoping anyone within range will forgive the audacious behavior?