Ronald L. Rodgers assumed duties as the Pardon Attorney in the United States Department of Justice in April 2008. The Office of the Pardon Attorney is responsible for reviewing and investigating applications to the President of the United States for executive clemency for federal criminal offenses, drafting the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney General to the President for the disposition of each clemency application, and advising Departmental leadership on matters related to executive clemency.

Mr. Rodgers, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy where he majored in history and lettered in baseball. Upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1980, he was selected for the Marine Corps Funded Law Education Program and attended the University of Dayton School of Law, graduating summa cum laude in 1983. Between 1983 and 1995, he served at various bases in the United States and overseas as a defense counsel, senior prosecutor, officer in charge of legal services, and instructor of trial advocacy and military practice and procedure, and also attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. From 1995 until his retirement in 1999, he served as the Atlantic Circuit Military Judge and Deputy Chief Judge, Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, Washington, D.C. Upon retirement, Mr. Rodgers joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney with the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section of the Criminal Division. In 2005, he became the Director of the Drug Intelligence Unit of the Criminal Division, where he remained until assuming his present duties.

Mr. Rodgers’ military awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and three Navy Commendation Medals. In 2004, he received the Criminal Division award for intra-departmental cooperation, and in 2006, he received a special achievement award from the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division in recognition of service as Director of the Drug Intelligence Unit.