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Crime, Law and Justice
Anika Besst
Updated:

There are calls to pardon Chauvin. Here’s why it wouldn’t get him out of prison

portrait of a man with a grey suit
In this image taken from a video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis.
Court TV via AP 2021

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Elon Musk recently shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who called on former President Donald Trump to pardon ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s federal conviction in the murder of George Floyd.

The provocative comment and amplification by Musk has sparked discussion about the possibility and conditions of Chauvin’s conviction getting pardoned. 

Chauvin is serving two concurrent prison sentences for a federal conviction and a state conviction after he knelt on the neck of Floyd in May 2020. Floyd’s murder ignited worldwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice, particularly against Black Americans. 

Trump can pardon Chauvin’s 20-year federal convictions for violating Floyd’s civil rights, but pardoning or commuting Chauvin’s 22 ½ year state sentence is out of his jurisdiction. 

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison outlined this in a statement shared with MPR News. 

“Trump has no power to pardon Chauvin's state conviction. None,” he said. “The only conceivable purpose would be to express yet more disrespect for George Floyd and more disrespect for the rule of law.” 

Ellison also highlighted that the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld Chauvin’s conviction. 

On Thursday, Ellison appeared on CNN and cited how police and community groups have worked to improve relations since Floyd’s murder, saying how police departments depend on trust and that Chauvin “destroyed that trust.”

“For every chief and every police officer out there striving to make a better department with a better relationship with their community, it is a spit in the face of them, too,” Ellison said.

If Chauvin’s federal conviction were to be pardoned, he would return to Minnesota, from a prison in Big Spring, Texas, to serve the rest of his sentence in a state prison, Ellison said.  

Without a pardon from Trump, Chauvin isn’t expected to be released until 2038. 

Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, told CNN on Wednesday that if the president were to pardon Chauvin, it would hurt his family. “It is so personal. We saw our brother tortured to death.”

“If he does this, it will set America back 400 years,” Philonise Floyd said. “The ones pushing for this are trying to remove any power Black Americans have to get justice.”