An interesting piece of commentary from Findlaw titled Do Symbolic Pardons Do More Harm than Good?, which looks at the pardoning of Lenny Bruce from obscenity charges in the early 60s and the pardoning of some Swiss Citizens who broke Swiss neutrality to help people escape from Nazi forces.
I find myself agreeing with the conclusion: "If Lenny Bruce were alive today, I'm sure he'd have a few choice words to say about what such a pardon is worth."
