About that "accepting a pardon means confession of guilt" thing -- yeah, not so much.

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7. This is my real point, there remain questions that are not settled law

Personally, I think the "accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt" finding is an unfortunate finding in that it lends itself to application in cases where it makes not sense.

It may have been helpful in deciding burdick, an may have general application regarding 5th amendment issues. However, I think it absolutely should *not* inherently constitute an admission of guilt for purposes of civil cases or other criminal cases. That seriously undermines the value of a pardon and in many cases could prevent a deserving person from accepting one. More constitutionally speaking, it could prevent a president from using a pardon in its intended purpose.