Milken fails to obtain presidential pardon

Wharton alumnus Michael Milken was overlooked in one Bill Clinton's last acts in office on Saturday, as the now-former president granted pardons to 140 Americans -- and chose not to pardon Milken, who was convicted of securities fraud. Milken, a 1979 graduate from Wharton's MBA program, served two years in prison and paid over $1 billion in fines for securities fraud in 1990. The fine was the single largest in Securities and Exchange Commission history. A presidential pardon would have expunged the conviction from Milken's record. Among those pardoned included Whitewater figure Susan McDougal, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and Roger Clinton -- Clinton's half-brother who faced drug charges during the 1980s. Milken, who has donated $750 million to health and education causes, requested a pardon on the basis of his philanthropy. Though Milken did have some supporters, including Democratic fund-raiser Ron Burke, many prominent legal authorities strongly urged against a pardon. Richard Walker, director of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission, also advised against the pardon. New York-based United States attorney Mary Jo White, who helped prosecute Milken, urged against a pardon in a letter to the president. Securities law experts also believed that a pardon would have been inappropriate for Milken. "Milken deserved to be prosecuted because of the negative message it would send otherwise," University of Maryland Law professor Lisa Fairfax said. Fairfax said that Milken's notoriety contributed to the high attention paid to his case. "He is one of those whose name just stands out in our culture," she said. Among the other prominent names who were passed over for a pardon include onetime Clinton friend and former Justice Department official Webster Hubbell and Jonathan Pollard, a former Navy personnel convicted of spying for Israel. Pardons are filed through the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice. The department reviews the application and makes a recommendation before passing it on to the president. However, the president does not have to follow the recommendations and has sole authority to grant pardons. The United States Constitution gives the president unlimited power to pardon wrongdoing.