...her?
Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
931–940 of 1001 posts
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#932We need pardon reform. I’d argue the President should not be allowed to issue pardons that are: (1) Preëmptive ( i.e. absent conviction); (2) To himself, his current or former Cabinet members, or to any of the foregoing’s current or former spouses or children or grandchildren (or their spouses); or (3) Issued after the presidential election in the final year of their term. Furthermore, pardons for violent offences or…
>(1) Preëmptive (i.e. absent conviction); I think this is necessary class of pardons. A hypothetical example of a good preemptive pardon would be Congress repealing an unjust law, and the president pardoning anybody who broke that law before the repeal. >(2) To himself, his current or former Cabinet members, or to any of the foregoing’s current or former spouses or children or grandchildren (or their spouses) Agree o…
> hypothetical example of a good preemptive pardon would be Congress repealing an unjust law, and the president pardoning anybody who broke that law before the repeal
Congress could do this when they pass the law. If they didn't, they specifically chose not to.
> less convinced about preventing family pardons. Those people (generally) aren't politicians
What if we invert the question: in what case would the family require a pardon such that their spouse or parent in a position of massive power couldn't help them out of a legitimate scuffle?
> Most people don't follow politics closely enough to know who's been pardoned
Then why do most of the controversial pardons come in this envelope?
> how about allowing the House or Senate to veto a pardon with a 2/3 majority?
I like this much better.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#933Gentle reminder that we have 1,459 more days of this shit. We really don't have to upvote every crazy fucking thing this guy does, or HN will be nothing but that for the next four years.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#934Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not going to comment on the murder part as that’s well discussed here. I would take issue with assuming that it was net positive with ratings. Given the anonymous nature handling bots spamming fake reviews would be even harder to catch here, and you ultimately don’t know who ended up addicted/hooked/DUI’s etc from the easy availability this provided. I’m not sure the total effects could ever be qualified, but it’s no…
Well, now you probably understand that Trump is not really anti-drug/anti-cartel. Nor do I think he's pro-drug/pro-cartel. I think he doesn't actually care except in how those issues affect his political career and public profile. Many of Trump's more ... let's call them "random" seeming statements and actions make much more sense if you look at them through the lens of "he doesn't actually care one way or the other"…
Trump is pro-Trump. That's it.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#935This pardon is corrupt. Ross' parents donated to Trump and he pardoned their son as a favour. Whether or not you think he deserved the prison time, the problem here is how utterly brazen Trump is in accepting bribes.
Trump doesn’t care about Ross’ parents or their donations much. What he did care about were libertarian votes. There was a deal that libertarians will support Trump if he promises to free Ross. This is on record, you can find it.
So, I’m seeing politician followed through on promise to voters. I’m sure this can swing to some orange man bad, I’m just not seeing it.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#936I really wonder who benefits from this. Trump only does things that are good for him, or those close to him. I realize he's been making connections to the crypto world, and has his own meme coins. Does pardoning Ross somehow make crypto more valuable?
Trump made the deal at the Libertarian National Convention to garner their support.
It’s almost a scandal that politician followed through on a campaign promise.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#937Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't credit Trump in any way for doing "the right thing" or even having a principled position regarding Ross' case. This is probably the most ridiculous comment in this thread. Trump even spoke at the Libertarian convention and specifically mentioned how unjust the sentence was and that he would pardon Ross as one of his campaign promises and he delivered. Trump saw parallels between the attack on Ross and the p…
> Trump saw parallels between the attack on Ross and the politically motivated law fare the democrats attacked him with. How exactly was it politically motivated law fare?
I think he's referring to the NY state case, which is difficult to dispute that it was done for political purposes. Although I'm sure Trump would say it applies to the federal classified documents case, as well.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#938We need pardon reform. I’d argue the President should not be allowed to issue pardons that are: (1) Preëmptive ( i.e. absent conviction); (2) To himself, his current or former Cabinet members, or to any of the foregoing’s current or former spouses or children or grandchildren (or their spouses); or (3) Issued after the presidential election in the final year of their term. Furthermore, pardons for violent offences or…
While I would tend to agree with the first one, and preventing someone from pardoning himself or herself, the rest is a bit much. But it's a moot point anyway. At this point amending the constitution is virtually impossible.
What? Trump just did it with an executive order!
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#939I think his original sentence was absolutely deserved—even though the charge of hiring a contract killer to assassinate his business competition may have been dropped, I think it's clear he did many things in the same vein. Even if you support his original pursuit of a free and open online marketplace, I think most people would agree he took it a bridge too far in the end. That said, I do think he absolutely deserved…
> I think his original sentence was absolutely deserved
The original sentence was two life terms. TO be pedantic, it sounds like you meant to say he deserved sentencing, but not the original sentence.
Re: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
#940I feel torn about this because it seems there was good evidence for attempted murder- and I cannot understand why they never tried him for that (seemingly larger) crime. However, for the crime he was actually found guilty of, the sentence was unfair and unreasonable. It seems they unethically sentenced him for crimes he was not even ever charged with. I'd also argue he almost certainly saved a huge number of lives wi…
As for the murder part Christina Warren knows best: The murder for hire bit was always the most bullshit of all the charges. Not only were the fbi agents that were part of that later jailed for their own actions related to the case (including theft and hiding/deleting evidence), it was never real and no one was ever in danger. https://bsky.app/profile/filmgirl.bsky.social/post/3lgcck6i6...
Wow! There have been multiple (astoundingly so) arrests of agents who were present in the Silk Road case. As far as I can see:
1 DEA agent for extortion, money laundering and fraud. 1 Secret Service Agent for money laundering. 2 Key advisors in the case.