Claims about a judge declaring Joe Biden’s pardons unconstitutional started on a satire page

Before he left office on Jan. 20, former President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for public figures including former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who were members of the U.S. House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol; retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley; and former White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Some social media posts, featuring photos of Cheney, Schiff, Milley and Fauci, falsely claimed those pardons have been stymied by a U.S. circuit court judge.

According to a Feb. 15 Instagram post, this is what happened:

"The very LIBERAL 9th Circuit Court has ruled that 84 of Biden's last-minute pardons are unconstitutional. Judge Joe Barron wrote in his opinion: ‘There is no precedent for pardoning someone who hasn't been charged with a crime. President Biden's pre-emptive pardons are, therefore, outside the constraints of constitutional law. The Solicitor General is expected to turn the cases over to the Department of Justice for prosecution."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

This claim originated, word-for-word, on a Facebook page aimed at trolling conservatives, where "Joe Barron" is a recurring character. 

We previously fact-checked a similar fabricated story taken out of context that claimed "7th Circuit Court Judge Joseph Barron ruled that there is no provision to pardon someone who hasn’t been formally charged" and that Biden’s pardons were unconstitutional. 

That’s wrong, and so is this new claim about the ninth circuit and the volume of Biden’s final pardons. 

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stated on February 23, 2025 in in social media posts

"The Philadelphia Eagles have declined their invitation to the White House,” as of Feb. 24.

There’s no Judge Joseph Barron on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, nor on any U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit. 

Biden issued 80 pardons over his four years as president, according to the Pew Research Center.

We also found no evidence, such as news reports or court filings, that any real judge ruled on the constitutionality of Biden’s pardons. 

We rate claims that a judge found Biden’s pardons unconstitutional False.