Would it be improper for a President to write a character letter for a defendant facing federal sentencing?
The question in the title of this post is obviously precipitated by the extraordinary developments surrounding federal prosecutors’ multiple sentencing submissions in the Roger Stone case (details here and here). Prez Trump apparently told reporters today that he did not tell the Justice Department to change its sentencing advocacy, but he did claim that he would have “the absolute right to do it.” I do not know enough about DOJ rules and executive authority to weigh in on this claim, but I do know that this discussion got me to thinking about whether and how it might be proper for a President to share his or her perspective on a federal defendant facing federal sentencing.
Federal defense attorneys know how common it is, especially in high-profile, white-collar cases, to argue for sentencing leniency with the help of character letters often written by the most prominent and compelling of individuals who know the defendant well. (I know I have seen such letters authored by elected officials in past cases.) In this case, according to this article in The Atlantic, Roger Stone “has been a presence in the president’s life for more than 30 years.” Consequently, I cannot help but wonder if Stone’s defense attorneys gave any thought to seeking a character letter from Prez Trump.
Whether such a letter was sought or not, I would love to hear from thoughtful readers about whether they think it would be improper for any President to write any character letter for any defendant facing federal sentencing. Does simply being President (perhaps because of clemency powers) serve to make it improper to share knowledge of the character of a defendant?
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