OHIO — Among the 1,500 pardons President Donald Trump handed out on his first day of office were approximately 80 Ohioans.
The pardons granted clemency to those charged in the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill.
John M. Pierce is Jared Kastner’s attorney, an Ohioan who received one of Trump’s pardons. He’s the founder and managing partner of John Pierce Law, and founder and chairman of the National Constitutional Law Union.
Kastner, from Beavercreek, is now a free man and Pierce said he’s back with his wife and kids.
“Obviously I was thrilled for the sake of the clients who are being set free and for the sake of their families who are going to get to see their loved ones,” Pierce said.
Last April, Kastner was convicted on four separate charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building; two counts of disorderly conduct; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
“Two are class-a misdemeanors, punishable by a maximum of a year in prison and two are class b misdemeanors,” Pierce said. “Which are considered petty offenses, punishable by a maximum of six months in prison.”
Kastner was sentenced to five months in prison back in October, but only spent weeks behind bars before he was released early Tuesday morning.
“To see [Trump] be very broad with his pardon power, I think was, really, you know, really a validation of all of our hard work over the past several years and showing how unfair these prosecutions were in D.C.” Pierce said.
But law professor Jonathan Entin at Case Western Reserve University weighed in on why these pardons may spark controversy.
Entin said these pardons are part of a bigger problem.
“[Trump] has pardoned people who assaulted police officers and now Vice President Vance had said a few days ago that he didn’t think that pardoning folks who attacked police officers was a good idea,” Entin said. “That seems to me to raise questions about how the system will work going forward and how we as a country will govern ourselves.”
Still, Pierce views things differently.
He said even though for Kastner it was only weeks that he spent in prison; it was still a tough situation.
“I’m glad President Trump is of the mind to move the country forward and start to heal,” Pierce said. “It’s no joke to be in federal prison for any length of time, so I’m sure he’s recovering as we speak.”