Here's my 2-cents about the pardon power: it's one of the only avenues (&, sometimes, the LAST avenue) by which a wrongly convicted person can receive justice, or where a person given an unreasonably long prison sentence (often in cases of a defendant being "made an example of") can have their sentence mitigated. Congress being granted a sort-of "Congressional Review Act" but for pardons seems like a good idea in theory, 'til you remember that they're the ones who created the unjust sentencing laws in the first place, & them changing them for the better doesn't seem likely anytime soon. For a lot of people, the pardon power is (&, in all administrations but this one, has been) their only hope for justice.
Unfortunately, the ability of GOP officials to escape accountability far outweighs the injustice visited upon low-level offenders. It would be great if Republicans could view the pardon power not as a get-out-of-jail-free card for their criminal co-conspirators. But that's just a pipe dream. They are what they are, sadly. Which means that low-level offenders need to suffer for their sins.
