It's being reported that Trump is preparing to issue as many as 100 pardons. This surprises exactly no one, as it's a fitting last act of a president who has been largely lawless during his four years in office.

But what are the consequences for the people who decide to accept a pardon from Trump? The Supreme Court answered that question in 1915 in the case of George Burdick v. The United States.

Mr. Burdick was the editor of the New York Tribune who refused to accept a pardon from President Woodrow Wilson. The Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Burdick was well within his right to refuse the pardon because accepting a pardon carries with it "an imputation of guilt and a confession" that you committed the crime for which you are pardoned. This is an important doctrine because those "confessions" by individuals who accept Trump's pardons can actually come back to haunt them in a number of ways. Here's how . . . 

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