This week, former CIA director James Woolsey went as far as to call for Snowden to be “hanged by his neck until he is dead.” Simultaneously offering reforms and the rope can send a curiously conflicted message.

A federal judge has now ruled that what the president was doing was unlawful. Congress and the White House now agree that abuses occurred and reforms are needed. Before the White House implements reforms to prevent the next Snowden, it is time to deal with the current one.

There is one concrete way for the president to demonstrate good faith in dealing with the reforms: Pardon Edward Snowden.