politics
Biden freed a Florida man in his final days in office. A year later, the state pressed charges — for the same crime
Oscar Freemond Fowler was a free man for only four days.
TL;DR
- Oscar Freemond Fowler was released from federal custody after his sentence was commuted by President Biden, but was rearrested days later on state charges for the same crimes.
- Federal pardons and commutations do not cover state charges, meaning individuals can be prosecuted again under state law for the same underlying actions.
- The dual-sovereignty doctrine, upheld by the Supreme Court in Gamble v. United States, allows for separate state and federal prosecutions without violating double jeopardy protections.
- Florida officials, including Attorney General James Uthmeier, criticized Biden's use of the autopen for the commutation and highlighted Fowler's extensive criminal history.
- Previous cases, like that of Steve Bannon, also illustrate how federal pardons do not shield individuals from state-level charges.
- A commutation reduces a sentence but does not affect the underlying conviction, unlike a pardon which can erase the conviction entirely.