News - 9 Luglio 2020 Presidents Pardoning Felons and Turkeys: A Power That Contradicts American Law? The original intent when the framers of the Constitution adopted what was acknowledged to be the monarchical power of the pardon was not to favor an individual, but to restore tranquility to the country after times of strife; for example, pardoning Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. Today, it is being used to pardon even confessed felons as political favoritismā¦..