Wednesday, January 21, 2026
People who give us hope: Liz Oyer
On Wednesdays, I am profiling people that give us hope in these troubling times.
Back in 2022 when things seemed relatively boring, I knew Liz Oyer as the very-well-qualified US Pardon Attorney. She was excellent at that job: she hired great people and re-populated the office, pushed forward hundreds of good cases, and spoke publicly (and even in prisons) about the realities of the clemency process. I got to know her fairly well-- I introduced her at a DC hearing, met with her several times, and even had her speak to my clinic students.
Sadly, her good efforts and those of her staff were eventually undermined by the Biden administration, which too often ignored her recommendations and at the end went completely off the edge with pardons to friends and family and group grants that were poorly vetted within the White House. Trump turned out to be worse, and Liz was fired after refusing to quickly approve a restoration of Mel Gibson's gun rights.
Then, something brave happened. Instead of backing into the shrubbery like most of the people leaving DOJ she spoke out-- and continues to speak out-- about the legal disasters the DOJ is creating. The risk to her is real, but she has been undeterred. Not only that, she is unfailingly calm and correct, two things missing from administration statements these days.
We need a lot more Liz Oyers, but I am glad that at least we have this one.
