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Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

nytimes.com

81–90 of 797 posts

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#81
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually explicitly in the Constitution: "The President...shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." Article II, Section 2

So it's only possible if it was something that was done against the US?

Right, which means federal crimes, not state crimes. The President won't be granting pardons to ordinary murderers, unless the murder took place on federal lands.

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#82

Seven years is still a long time for whistle blowing. I'm glad to see she is still getting released though. It's important to note commuting the sentence is not a pardon. Chelsea will still have this conviction for the rest of her life. I know there is a lot of controversy with Manning compared to Wikileaks et. al. as far as not redacting documents or using a discriminating news source to filter them. Still, I oppose…

> Obama is trying to leave a positive view of the Democratic legacy with this lasting memory. It helps people forget

How do you know what Obama's motive is? Were you at the meetings? Did you read the memos? Do you have a brain-to-brain interface or have you hacked his Blackberry?

Should he do nothing good or positive, so that you don't suspect him of manipulating people?

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#83

Now pardon Snowden

And admit you're the cause of the Assange investigation which has kept him locked up in an embassy for years as well.

Seriously. This is such terrible backroom political manipulation. The real thing that worries me is what exactly are we using to leverage sweden to go after assange this hard. What damage has obama done to our relationship with them?

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#84

Why can the US president meddle with the sentence of a convict? Isn't that against the separation of powers? Not that I have anything against this guy Manning in particular, just asking why is this "tolerable" in a democracy. Isn't it a risk, that the president can pardon whoever he wants?

The president is granted the power to pardon by the same document that establishes the separation of powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_Stat... It's not a super long document. http://constitutionus.com/

[deleted]

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#85
post #2

Good. I wish that he would just pardon her, though. I don't want the next administration to somehow undo this.

She can't be tried again though, so how would they undo it?

Midnight assassination squads? They could start digging through laws looking for anything they can make stick (parking violations, jaywalking, etc...), but IMHO the most likely scenario is that nothing further happens to Chelsea Manning. She is yesterday's news. She is never going to work in a government position again, but somehow I don't think that's going to be relevant to her future plans.

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#86
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually explicitly in the Constitution: "The President...shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." Article II, Section 2

So it's only possible if it was something that was done against the US?

Yes, the President can only pardon/commute federal offenses. (That's what 'Offences Against the United States' means here). The President cannot pardon/commute prisoners who have been convicted of state crimes - only the relevant state governors can do that. Manning was convicted of federal crimes.

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#87

Why can the US president meddle with the sentence of a convict? Isn't that against the separation of powers? Not that I have anything against this guy Manning in particular, just asking why is this "tolerable" in a democracy. Isn't it a risk, that the president can pardon whoever he wants?

The Constitution explicitly grants the President the power to issue pardons. (And states similarly grant that power to governors, typically.)

The President in in charge of federal law enforcement; the risk of non-enforcement is already greater than the risk of random pardons.

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#88
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it seems very cowardly and very much passing the buck and doesn't acknowledge that what she did was justified at all, just that mercy was granted.

Isn't that exactly what Obama was trying for? I've never read any statements from the Obama administration that makes it seem like they find anything about this case justified or acceptable.

This quote by a spokesperson in the article supports that: “Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,”

A criminal that's being granted a shorter sentence, not the "support" for someones actions a pardon would be.

Re: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence

#90

Now pardon Snowden

I sort of wonder if it would matter. Whether they should or not, I really doubt the parts of the government he pissed off will forgive him just because they are told to.

A pardon would allow him a valid passport to travel to a different country that would be willing to house him without having to ignore extradition requests. He would not need to return to the US if he felt endangered there.
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