It’s hardly a surprise that former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby did not receive a pardon in the latest small batch of pardons and large cache of sentence commutations from the Biden White House issued on Dec. 12. The Mosbys may not know it, but the regular presidential pardon process is not especially responsive to public pronouncements or foot-stomping by politicians.

There is an established federal mechanism for seeking a pardon or commutation that is both arduous and slow. Of course, the president has absolute authority to pardon any federal felon, but with the exception of an outlier like Donald Trump, most presidents trust the process. It usually does not result from protests of mistreatment or attacks on the prosecutors, but with an acknowledgment of guilt.

It starts at the Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney. The convicted person completes a 20+ page application that details the facts and dates pertaining to the crime, conviction and sentence. I wonder if Mosby or her attorney actually did this? Perhaps she could make public her application even as she asks her friends to insist on the pardon?

Under Department of Justice rules, there is a five-year waiting period before a person can apply for a pardon. The waiting period begins when a person is released from confinement. Or, if there was no prison sentence, the waiting period begins on the date of sentencing. Mosby was sentenced on May 23 of this year after she was convicted of perjury and mortgage fraud. She’s asking President Joe Biden to break the rules for her.

Typically the application is reviewed and if it meets requirements, it goes on the stack. According to a former Justice Department pardon attorney, Margaret Love, there is a backlog of more than 16,000 applications. The department may choose to process them in order or choose those it deems worthy of the investment of scarce government resources.

At some point in the process, the FBI enters the picture. As with someone seeking federal security clearance, FBI agents interview victims of the felon where applicable, as well as neighbors and colleagues. They check credit ratings and local law infractions. They assess whether, since one’s conviction and confinement, she or he has lived a civic life worthy of the president’s attention. The FBI prepares a report for the pardon attorney.

The pardon attorney then typically asks the prosecuting U.S. Attorney for an opinion. Given Mosby’s light sentence (12 months of home confinement) and her public attacks on her prosecutors, that could be problematic. Finally, the pardon attorney reviews all of the material and decides whether and when to submit it to the White House general counsel for the president’s consideration.

Does each and every pardon flow out of this complicated process? Surely not. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger, convicted of cocaine trafficking. Not long after the ex-wife of Marc Rich made big contributions to the Clinton Presidential Library and to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign, Rich, a fugitive hiding out in Switzerland, was pardoned of 51 pending charges of tax fraud adding up to $48 million.

President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor Richard M. Nixon, the only president thus far to receive a presidential pardon.

Ronald Reagan had more criminal charges and convictions of his officials within his eight-year administration than any president before or since, including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane. They were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.

More recently, Donald Trump in his first term pardoned Roger Stone and several other political allies who faced or served prison sentences. He also acceded to pardon requests in meetings with celebrity Kim Kardashian, including one for a man imprisoned for killing a police officer. Those likely evaded the DOJ process. So, one imagines, did the Hunter Biden pardon.

In theory, there’s still time for Marilyn Mosby’s plea to be considered. She and thousands of other applicants surely will be watching the news every day until noon on Jan. 20, when Biden leaves office.

Bill Hamilton is a retired Washington communications consultant and the editor of the Bolton Hill Bulletin.