The Straight Dope: Can Congress override a presidential pardon?

[Send questions for Cecil Adams: cecil@straightdope.com](mailto:cecil@straightdope.com) [dope_180601_pardons_online.gif] 06/01/2018 Dear Cecil: Now that Bill Cosby has been found guilty, it seems possible President Trump could issue a pardon, letting Cosby off scot-free. Congress has the authority to override a presidential veto. Couldn’t we also give Congress the ability to override a presidential pardon? — Curious in Indy Cecil replies: I see where you’re going there, Indy, but the scenario you’ve cooked up won’t work. Presidential pardon power extends only to federal crimes, whereas Cosby was convicted under the state law of Pennsylvania. It’s simply not the president’s jurisdiction. This may come as some surprise to the current officeholder, who last year tweeted that “all agree the U.S. President has the complete power to pardon.” Who wants to tell him? [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT — 12/06/2005 Dear Straight Dope: As a history buff, I've never found a good answer anywhere to this question, namely, just how was the great library of Alexandria destroyed? When did this destruction happen? — History Fanatic in Atlanta, Georgia SDStaff Dex replies: There’s considerable disagreement among historians on how and when the great library was destroyed. But before we discuss its end, let’s discuss its beginnings. Libraries date back to earliest historic times. Archaeologists have found libraries — that is, storage places for clay tablets carved in cuneiform — in Mesopotamia, dating from around 2000 BC. As clay tablets and cuneiform gave way to scrolls and an alphabet, Greek authors and scholars around the 5th century BC began to develop history and philosophy, and the evidence strongly suggests they had access to libraries. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC — 07/28/2006 Dear Cecil: I've been doing some research on the great American songwriter Irving Berlin and something struck me as odd. Several sources claim he never learned to read or write music. While this is certainly believable for later songwriters with easy access to recording equipment, how was Irving Berlin able to pass his songs along to live Broadway orchestras without a transcription? Is this folklore, or did he come up with some way to write music without writing down the notes? — Patrick Gary, Dallas Cecil replies: Yes, it’s true. The composer of countless beloved standards and show tunes including “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “White Christmas,” and “God Bless America” couldn’t read or write music. As you rightly suppose, neither can lots of modern songwriters, but here’s the thing: musical illiteracy wasn’t all that rare in Berlin’s day either. Fact is, if the music industry thinks you’ve got commercial potential, it’ll figure out a way to compensate for your technical deficiencies. All you need to do is come up with the hits. [Click here]( for more. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [View this message as a webpage](. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. To advertise on The Straight Dope, contact Rich Hummel at rhummel@suntimes.com [Privacy Policy/Terms of Use]( • [Unsubscribe]( © 2018 Straight Dope, LLC. 30 N Racine Ave. Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607