Author: Joyce Vance

Joyce Vance is a Brennan Center senior fellow who lends her expertise as a former federal prosecutor to writing and commenting on high-profile court cases and election-related matters. She is a distinguished professor of the practice of law at the University of Alabama School of Law, where she has taught since 2017, focusing on criminal law and democratic institutions. She is also a legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC and co-host of the legal podcasts #SistersInLaw and Cafe Insider. Previously, Vance served as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. She served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys from 2009 to 2011 and co-chaired its criminal practice subcommittee from 2009 to 2017. Among her notable achievements were prosecuting the first material support of terrorism case in Alabama and successfully challenging the state’s 2011 anti-immigration law. Vance also created the first civil rights enforcement unit in an Alabama U.S. attorney’s office.

Trump Pardoning Jan. 6 Insurrectionists Would Endorse Attacks on Democracy

Rewarding people who tried to ignite an insurrection turns the pardon power on its head.

Trump’s pardons are not about people and their communities—they are about personal loyalty to him. Trump summoned these individuals to the Capitol to support him and now he will pardon them to complete that transaction. Trump will use the pardon power to make it clear that violence and violation of the law can be forgiven in service to himself.