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Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

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Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#591

Post by vidarh »

account42 wrote: post #588
lbriner wrote: post #537

Someone might have already pointed it out but for me, the sentence of RA is not the main issue, the issue is allowing a single person to stamp through an entire legal system and undermine all of the time and money that is invested in it, even if that person is a president. I suspect that the idea originally was to give some safety valve but if it is used more than a few times by a President, it makes a mockery of it…

Bidens pardons have been even more absurd - pardoning people for unspecified crimes before they have even been charged. Including his family.

In the context of a deeply vindictive successor surrounded, it seems like the entirely rational choice to make.

It's not one that should be needed or acceptable, and had his successor been someone who seemed to respect law and order I'd have agreed with you, but in the present circumstances it'd seem crazy not to.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#592

Post by sofixa »

account42 wrote: post #588
lbriner wrote: post #537

Someone might have already pointed it out but for me, the sentence of RA is not the main issue, the issue is allowing a single person to stamp through an entire legal system and undermine all of the time and money that is invested in it, even if that person is a president. I suspect that the idea originally was to give some safety valve but if it is used more than a few times by a President, it makes a mockery of it…

Bidens pardons have been even more absurd - pardoning people for unspecified crimes before they have even been charged. Including his family.

Because of very legitimate threats of politically motivated prosecution against them. Hell, his son was was prosecuted and dragged through the mud publicly, including in fucking Congress, for run of the mill regular crimes. Why was there such a treatment for a regular criminal?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#593

Post by a2128 »

kube-system wrote: post #464
agentultra wrote: post #381

Is this president extremely concerned about drug dealers and gangs in the US? Why is he pardoning a drug trafficker?

Trump clearly values favoritism to a high degree. He is doing exactly as he has promised, running the country like a businessman. If you scratch his back, he will scratch yours. Principles take a back seat to "getting the job done". For other examples, see his changed stances on TikTok, various foreign interests, cryptocurrencies, EVs post Elon support, etc. And in the opposite vein, he abandons support for anyone wh…

That sounds like corruption

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#594

Post by KeplerBoy »

tasuki wrote: post #496
agentultra wrote: post #381

Is this president extremely concerned about drug dealers and gangs in the US? Why is he pardoning a drug trafficker?

Don't online drug marketplaces lead to reduced gang activity? One does not need a gang and violence to sell drugs online. Selling drugs offline, gangs and violence will get involved.

There are gangs and violence all along the supply chain. The online marketplace only removes the last (few hundred) miles.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#595

Post by that_guy_iain »

lbriner wrote: post #537

Someone might have already pointed it out but for me, the sentence of RA is not the main issue, the issue is allowing a single person to stamp through an entire legal system and undermine all of the time and money that is invested in it, even if that person is a president. I suspect that the idea originally was to give some safety valve but if it is used more than a few times by a President, it makes a mockery of it…

They literally gave the power of pardons so that one person could right wrongs. Previously, it was used a lot more than it is now. There are lots of people in prison on unfair sentences which are technically legal but still wrong. Sentencing guidelines are just guidelines.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#596

Post by Cthulhu_ »

wolfgang42 wrote: post #173

Tangentially related: I had the disconcerting experience of reading a Wired article about his arrest[1] while unknowingly sitting about six feet from the spot where he was apprehended. When I read that the FBI agents had stopped at Bello Coffee while preparing their stakeout, I thought, huh, interesting coincidence, I just had a coffee there. Then Ulbricht walked into the public library and sat down at the table dire…

It would be morbidly neat if that article is printed out and put on the wall over there.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#597

Post by gosub100 »

zanek wrote: post #327
steve_avery wrote: post #55

Well, I think that justice has been served. The feds' prosecution of Ulbricht was the epitome of throwing the book at someone to make an example, when the government's case was pretty flawed, in my opinion. 10 years is enough time to pay the debt of running the silk road. I am glad that Ulbricht has been pardoned and I feel like a small iota of justice has been returned to the world with this action.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading the comments on this thread. Multiple teenagers (one in Australia) died from the drugs distributed on Silk Road. Ross was ok with selling grenades, body parts, etc on there. But everyone is saying he served his time ???

Did you just make a "think of the children" argument? Teens are well known to engage in risk taking. Why not prosecute the parents?

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#598

Post by lom »

FergusArgyll wrote: post #91

This thread is a great lesson in "Politics is a mind virus" I recommend you read the HN thread when Ulbricht was sentenced [0] first, then come here and read all the "Honest, genuine question, why?"s Then start practicing not letting politics influence your thought process https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985

The craziest part about that thread is how much the attitude around drugs has changed in the past years. 10 years ago the comments felt a lot more optimistic about drugs and liberalization.

I guess since then, the fentanyl crisis has happened and shown that drugs also have more negative impacts

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#599

Post by eddie_catflap »

It seems like a lot of the opposition to this I’m seeing online is because Trump is the one that granted it.

Ridiculous hyperbole about Ross ‘inventing the Dark Web’ or ‘Trump freed a sex trafficker’ is a great reminder that for some people, their ideological opposition can never do anything right and they’ll condemn anything they do without even a second of consideration.

I’m not an avowed Trump supporter (or even American) but believe this was the right call to make. The sentence was overly harsh and he has both served his time and reformed. I’m glad he has been released.

Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon

#600

Post by kypro »

kybernetyk wrote: post #547
zanek wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills reading the comments on this thread. Multiple teenagers (one in Australia) died from the drugs distributed on Silk Road. Ross was ok with selling grenades, body parts, etc on there. But everyone is saying he served his time ???

Smart people can differentiate between a market place and the sellers themselves.

I think there is some difference between running a marketplace which you intend for people to sell products legally on, and a marketplace which you intend and know people will sell products illegally on.

Whether I agree with it or not, the law often recognises differences like this. It's not illegal to lie, but it is illegal to lie in the aid a murder. The lier themselves might not be a murderer, but the lier is knowingly facilitating murder.

Ulbricht was knowingly facilitating crime in the case, and sometimes this crime would result in the deaths of people. And despite knowing all this he took no action to address it.

Perhaps your point was he just didn't deserve the sentence he receive, which is fair, but he clearly did something that most people would consider very wrong.

I also wonder how people would feel if Silkroad was associated more with the trading of humans, CSAM, biological weapons or more serious things rather than just drugs. I doubt the "he's just running a marketplace" reasoning would hold in most people's eyes then.

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