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Not to tread too much into political territory, but if Warren or Sanders is the next US President I'd assume he will receive a full pardon.
by jameslevy 7y ago
Not to tread too much into political territory, but if Warren or Sanders is the next US President I'd assume he will receive a full pardon.
- mywittyname 7y agoI don't assume he would, but I do hope he does.
- flmontpetit 7y agoUntil the pendulum swings Republican again and he gets thrown into jail. Remember Chelsea Manning?
- adam12 7y agoThat's because Obama didn't give Chelsea a full pardon.
- dragonwriter 7y agoA pardon wouldn't have any different effect; she's not being targeted (legally speaking) for any action before Obama left office, so even had he pardoned here for every federal crime she might have committed from the day she was born to the microsecond Obama’s turn ended, she would be subject to the exact same thing she is experiencing now. Now, if Obama has pardoned Assange things might be a little differenct for Manning, but that's a weirder counterfactual assumption.
- bbatsell 7y agoThis is incorrect. Manning’s commutation is just as immutable as a full pardon. Her current incarceration is over supposed contempt of court by refusing to testify in an ongoing grand jury investigation. A pardon for her past conviction would have had zero effect on that. Blame the judge and prosecutors if you think it is contrary to justice.
- somebodythere 7y agoCheslea can't invoke her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination because she has already been convicted. If she had been pardoned, that conviction would be null, and her fifth amendment right would apply. She would have a strong legal defence to avoid being thrown in jail.
- akiselev 7y agoThat is incorrect. A pardon does not nullify a conviction. The most relevant ruling would be Burdick v United States (1915) where the Supreme Court majority opinion stated that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it." It was an offhand remark which hasn't been litigated in front of the Supreme Court since then so it's an open issue whether the statement above is authoritative and binding but there is zero law or precedent that allows convictions to be nullified by Presidential pardon. AFAIK only a higher court can nullify a conviction.
- somebodythere 7y agoI stand corrected.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- GhettoMaestro 7y agoNo. Bradley Manning refused to testify in front of a legitimate grand jury. He is getting exactly what he deserved. Frankly, given how reckless Mr. Manning was in releasing the data in question, my personal preference was to see him rot for life in a US Military prison cell.
- zcrackerz 7y agoIf it were an actual pardon there would be no way to retract it. Now if they just declined to prosecute, that would be a different story.
- belltaco 7y agoChelsea committed a new crime - 'refusing to testify'. An actual pardon wouldn't have done anything.
- fooker 7y agoThat seems like an interesting assumption, given than Snowden had to escape the country when Obama was the president.
- epistasis 7y agoI'm not fololwing, what's connecting Obama's behavior to Warren's and Sanders's?
- cpursley 7y agoThey are Democrats (the political party espouses civil rights).
- willhslade 7y agoThey are assuming left leaning Presidents will do the right thing. It's, at best, a little naive.
- bityard 7y agoYou mean the left thing
- imglorp 7y agoThat was a disappointment. Obama ran on restoring the rights retracted by the Patriot act, on closing Guantanamo, etc. After taking office though, things went in the other direction. There were new abuses and more National Security Letters issued than ever before. It makes you wonder if new presidents get "read in" on what the "puppet masters" are expecting of them (/s) or is each simply more corrupt than the last, regardless of Party.
- emilsedgh 7y agoHave any of them mentioned anything about it?
- dragonwriter 7y ago> Not to tread too much into political territory, but if Warren or Sanders is the next US President I'd assume he will receive a full pardon. I wouldn't assume that. I would definitely not assume that it would happen early on, given their policy ambitions, the need for political capital for them, and the fact that both are experienced enough legislators that they are unlikely to have (or succumb to staff who have) naive ideas about the impact it would or would not have on their broader agenda.
- Empact 7y agoTo my knowledge, only Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard have said they would pardon or drop charges: https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-julian-assange-edward-swowden-pardon-dropped-charges-joe-rogan-1425802 https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-julian-assange-edward... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/14/edward-snowden-pardon-bernie-sanders-daniel-ellsberg https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/14/edward-snowd...
- noelsusman 7y agoHe will almost certainly not.
- twox2 7y agoI think at best he might get that public trial he's asking for.