Jan. 6 pardons: Weigh every individual case

Count us opposed to a mass pardon for all Jan.6 defendants: Some plainly did receive unfair treatment, but others in the mob committed real and significant crimes.If Republicans mean to remain the party of law and order, the blanket clemency that President-elect Donald Trump has floated is the wrong way to go: The new Justice Department and/or White House lawyers need to do a case-by-case review.

For several hours, the mob disrupted the orderly transfer of presidential power, posing a real threat to the safety of Vice President Mike Pence and others.Capitol police, simply doing their sworn duty, suffered beating and injuries as they sought to protect members of Congress by holding back the mob.On charges from entering a restricted federal building, assault, resisting arrest or obstructing an official proceeding, more than 1,250 have pleaded guilty or been convicted in connection with Jan.6; 650-plus got prison time — from a few days to 22 years.Some of those convictions reek of politics, and all too many defendants were denied proper due process.But a riot is a riot, and rioting in the US Capitol as a presidential election is being finalized is particularly noxious.Free the true innocents, and the badly overcharged; but true justice must be served — and genuinely wrongful actions must have consequences....