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Until the pendulum swings Republican again and he gets thrown into jail. Remember Chelsea Manning?
by flmontpetit 7y ago
Until 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.