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Non-paranoia theory: the state wants to make an empty gesture to appease the unruly masses upset about unpopular laws without actually changing them. What a sho

Non-paranoia theory: the state wants to make an empty gesture to appease the unruly masses upset about unpopular laws without actually changing them. What a show! Granted, I am not familiar with German systems for changing laws, but if we doesn't like prosecutors enforcing unjust laws, we should change the laws to make publishing state secrets legal in limited cases (e.g. when it serves a public good), not make show of firing a prosecutor who is enforcing laws and about to retire anyway. It simply isn't wise to rely on prosecutorial discretion for justice to persevere over unjust laws, as that's simply not their role in the judicial system.

creshal 11y ago
> I am not familiar with German systems for changing laws After 16 years of Kohl fiddling his thumbs and 10 years of Merkel glueing hers together, I'm not sure Germans are any more.
tormeh 11y ago
Well, Range was strangely un-eager in his investigations in the NSA scandal. There's something wrong here that is independent of the law.
- anfedorov 11y ago
  I imagine the NSA is a sophisticated enough actor that prosecuting anyone related to them would be pretty futile. We can certainly wish that everyone be equal under the law regardless of resources, but that's simply not the case in practice.
  - vog 11y ago
    These investigations are not against the NSA! They are against (part of) the German government as well as Germany's secret service ("Bundesnachrichtendienst", BND) for their extensive cooperation with the NSA.
dirkt 11y ago
The Tagesschau yesterday (https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/maas-range-101.html https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/maas-range-101.html) made it very clear that the Generalbundesanwalt is a "political public official" and as such (unlike judges, who are independent) subordinate to the minister of justice, and has to follow his directions. Maas refusal to do so, instead attacking the minister publicly for "meddling", is explanation enough for his dismissal. It's also very questionable if Maas was indeed "just" enforcing laws, at least he was strangely selective in doing so (for some reason, he was very reluctant to enforce similar laws in the NSA-spy-affair). It's also very questionable of the accusations of treason against journalists only doing their job would have held up in court. So the simple explanation is that the Generalbundesanwalt went too far, his superior had to act to avoid loosing face, and all this speculation about empty gestures, unjust laws or whatever is completely unnecessary.
- netrus 11y ago
  Small correction: Maas is the minister, Range is the Generalbundesanwalt.
- anfedorov 11y ago
  Oh, good point, thanks for explaining. I did think it strange that a prosecutor was implying he was part of the judicial branch, and chalked it up to not being familiar with the German judicial system. Still, I think it's better to limit prosecutorial power by changing laws than to rely on prosecutorial discretion, i.e. I'd prefer he get fired for "this is a wholly baseless prosecution that has no place under our laws", not for "this is an unpopular prosecution that your boss told you to drop".

creshal 11y ago

> I am not familiar with German systems for changing laws After 16 years of Kohl fiddling his thumbs and 10 years of Merkel glueing hers together, I'm not sure Germans are any more.

tormeh 11y ago

Well, Range was strangely un-eager in his investigations in the NSA scandal. There's something wrong here that is independent of the law.

anfedorov 11y ago
I imagine the NSA is a sophisticated enough actor that prosecuting anyone related to them would be pretty futile. We can certainly wish that everyone be equal under the law regardless of resources, but that's simply not the case in practice.
- vog 11y ago
  These investigations are not against the NSA! They are against (part of) the German government as well as Germany's secret service ("Bundesnachrichtendienst", BND) for their extensive cooperation with the NSA.

dirkt 11y ago

The Tagesschau yesterday (https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/maas-range-101.html https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/maas-range-101.html) made it very clear that the Generalbundesanwalt is a "political public official" and as such (unlike judges, who are independent) subordinate to the minister of justice, and has to follow his directions. Maas refusal to do so, instead attacking the minister publicly for "meddling", is explanation enough for his dismissal. It's also very questionable if Maas was indeed "just" enforcing laws, at least he was strangely selective in doing so (for some reason, he was very reluctant to enforce similar laws in the NSA-spy-affair). It's also very questionable of the accusations of treason against journalists only doing their job would have held up in court. So the simple explanation is that the Generalbundesanwalt went too far, his superior had to act to avoid loosing face, and all this speculation about empty gestures, unjust laws or whatever is completely unnecessary.

netrus 11y ago
Small correction: Maas is the minister, Range is the Generalbundesanwalt.
anfedorov 11y ago
Oh, good point, thanks for explaining. I did think it strange that a prosecutor was implying he was part of the judicial branch, and chalked it up to not being familiar with the German judicial system. Still, I think it's better to limit prosecutorial power by changing laws than to rely on prosecutorial discretion, i.e. I'd prefer he get fired for "this is a wholly baseless prosecution that has no place under our laws", not for "this is an unpopular prosecution that your boss told you to drop".