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I'm going to go around the interesting tech angle here and comment on how many people on this list have been pardoned for petty drug crimes. *Corvain Cooper –

I'm going to go around the interesting tech angle here and comment on how many people on this list have been pardoned for petty drug crimes. *Corvain Cooper – President Trump commuted the sentence of Mr. Corvain Cooper. Mr. Cooper is a 41 year-old father of two girls who has served more than 7 years of a life sentence for his non-violent participation in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana.* Life sentence for "conspiracy to distribute marijuana" - Unbelievable. There are dozens of similar examples on this list.

slg 6y ago
It is honorable to pardon or commute the sentence of people in this situation. It seems Trump has only done it for a few dozen people. I can't help wonder why specifically these people deserve this and the hundreds of thousands of other people still in prison for similar charges don't deserve it. If he truly believed these laws were too harsh, he could have worked to change the laws as president.
- wombatpm 6y ago
  As one does not simply ‘walk’ into Mordor, Trump does not ‘work’ to do anything not in his immediate self interest
- cannaceo 6y ago
  It was a grassroots effort and, in the end, lobbied through the right channels. He caught a lucky break. Now that Corvain is getting release he'll be lobbying for the release of other non-violent cannabis offenders. It will take time but we'll get all non-violent cannabis offenders released.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  Most pardon's are recommended to the President by the Justice department after reviewing cases. Currently, they have a mandate to go over all large sentences of non-violent drug offenders.
cannaceo 6y ago
Didn't think I'd seen Corvain mentioned on HN. He's actually a great guy and a hell of an entrepreneur. Without trying to take any credit for his release my team was involved in the process of raising awareness of his incarceration for the last year and got deeply involved in bringing his cannabis brand to the California market. We've been early-celebrating all week about his pending release. I'll also add that his crime was trafficking 37 tons. He wasn't the seller or buyer.
- tobmlt 6y ago
  Congrats! If only all inmates unjustly incarcerated could receive fair re-trials / pardons / relief / release depending on circumstances. There are so damn many people in need of justice in this way.
- crescentfresh 6y ago
  > bringing his cannabis brand to the California market Could you explain? I'm not following and when I search his story news articles said he opened a clothing store. What was his actual business and was it connected to cannabis?
  - cannaceo 6y ago
    Corvain was imprisoned for trafficking and had no legitimate cannabis business at that time. Corvain's wife started 40tons with the help of a lot of industry folks in 2020. The effort was to bring cannabis revenue/profit back to support Corvain's two teenage daughters while he's incarcerated. That's the cannabis brand I'm referring to. https://40tons.co/about/ https://40tons.co/about/
- lultimouomo 6y ago
  > I'll also add that his crime was trafficking 37 tons. He wasn't the seller or buyer. Good for him that he was pardoned, but I find it sad that it's those 37tons that make the pardon unsurprising. I don't think he would ever be pardoned for trafficking 37 pounds.
akhilcacharya 6y ago
Maybe he should have just commuted the sentences of offenders like him instead of the likes of Bannon, Levandowski, and Broidy. Makes Marc Rich look tame.
jayd16 6y ago
If the goal was real justice, why is this left to the 11th hour storm of bullshit pardons? Isn't this being used as an obvious distraction when it could have happened much sooner?
- t-writescode 6y ago
  One theory: they're not in office anymore, so they won't as easily be bothered because [person pardoned] committed a crime, which of course they'll be chased like a hawk for doing, just in case, especially in the case of certain pardoned people. edit: removed some inflammatory text that was unfair to all involved.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  I'm not sure why either, but notably all presidents execute their pardon power on their last day - so it's not specific to Trump.
- saalweachter 6y ago
  You can't take the politics out of politics. The President is the head of the executive branch. The Department of Justice, on top of which the President ultimately sits, was responsible for prosecuting ~each and ~every one of the people the President pardons, on their first or last day. Someone inside the DoJ thought each and every one of them was guilty of a crime and deserved to be prosecuted for it. Weeks and months -- years, the work of dozens -- went into each and every one of those prosecutions. The convictions, when obtained, were hung like trophies on the walls of the individual careers. Proof they had done their job, proof their work had meaning. And then the President, with the stroke of a pen, throws it all away. We all have projects get canceled. We all have invested time and effort and then, through no fault of our own, had our efforts come to naught. It's bad for morale. Even when the reasons for the laws were outdated or absurd, even when the prosecutions unjust, even when perfidy played a role, even when the people who worked the case no longer fully believe in it ... it still hurts to have your work thrown away by your superior. It still damages the working relationship you have with your chain of command. Why should you work hard in the future, doing the tasks assigned to you, if your boss is just going to ignore it all? The President pardoning dozens, hundreds, thousands of individuals permanently damages their working relationship with the career employees of the Department of Justice, even (especially?) if the pardons are moral, deserved, merciful, just without a hint of corruption. Maybe that shouldn't defer justice, but it's a reason.

slg 6y ago

It is honorable to pardon or commute the sentence of people in this situation. It seems Trump has only done it for a few dozen people. I can't help wonder why specifically these people deserve this and the hundreds of thousands of other people still in prison for similar charges don't deserve it. If he truly believed these laws were too harsh, he could have worked to change the laws as president.

wombatpm 6y ago
As one does not simply ‘walk’ into Mordor, Trump does not ‘work’ to do anything not in his immediate self interest
cannaceo 6y ago
It was a grassroots effort and, in the end, lobbied through the right channels. He caught a lucky break. Now that Corvain is getting release he'll be lobbying for the release of other non-violent cannabis offenders. It will take time but we'll get all non-violent cannabis offenders released.
koheripbal 6y ago
Most pardon's are recommended to the President by the Justice department after reviewing cases. Currently, they have a mandate to go over all large sentences of non-violent drug offenders.

cannaceo 6y ago

Didn't think I'd seen Corvain mentioned on HN. He's actually a great guy and a hell of an entrepreneur. Without trying to take any credit for his release my team was involved in the process of raising awareness of his incarceration for the last year and got deeply involved in bringing his cannabis brand to the California market. We've been early-celebrating all week about his pending release. I'll also add that his crime was trafficking 37 tons. He wasn't the seller or buyer.

tobmlt 6y ago
Congrats! If only all inmates unjustly incarcerated could receive fair re-trials / pardons / relief / release depending on circumstances. There are so damn many people in need of justice in this way.
crescentfresh 6y ago
> bringing his cannabis brand to the California market Could you explain? I'm not following and when I search his story news articles said he opened a clothing store. What was his actual business and was it connected to cannabis?
- cannaceo 6y ago
  Corvain was imprisoned for trafficking and had no legitimate cannabis business at that time. Corvain's wife started 40tons with the help of a lot of industry folks in 2020. The effort was to bring cannabis revenue/profit back to support Corvain's two teenage daughters while he's incarcerated. That's the cannabis brand I'm referring to. https://40tons.co/about/ https://40tons.co/about/
lultimouomo 6y ago
> I'll also add that his crime was trafficking 37 tons. He wasn't the seller or buyer. Good for him that he was pardoned, but I find it sad that it's those 37tons that make the pardon unsurprising. I don't think he would ever be pardoned for trafficking 37 pounds.

akhilcacharya 6y ago

Maybe he should have just commuted the sentences of offenders like him instead of the likes of Bannon, Levandowski, and Broidy. Makes Marc Rich look tame.

jayd16 6y ago

If the goal was real justice, why is this left to the 11th hour storm of bullshit pardons? Isn't this being used as an obvious distraction when it could have happened much sooner?

t-writescode 6y ago
One theory: they're not in office anymore, so they won't as easily be bothered because [person pardoned] committed a crime, which of course they'll be chased like a hawk for doing, just in case, especially in the case of certain pardoned people. edit: removed some inflammatory text that was unfair to all involved.
koheripbal 6y ago
I'm not sure why either, but notably all presidents execute their pardon power on their last day - so it's not specific to Trump.
saalweachter 6y ago
You can't take the politics out of politics. The President is the head of the executive branch. The Department of Justice, on top of which the President ultimately sits, was responsible for prosecuting ~each and ~every one of the people the President pardons, on their first or last day. Someone inside the DoJ thought each and every one of them was guilty of a crime and deserved to be prosecuted for it. Weeks and months -- years, the work of dozens -- went into each and every one of those prosecutions. The convictions, when obtained, were hung like trophies on the walls of the individual careers. Proof they had done their job, proof their work had meaning. And then the President, with the stroke of a pen, throws it all away. We all have projects get canceled. We all have invested time and effort and then, through no fault of our own, had our efforts come to naught. It's bad for morale. Even when the reasons for the laws were outdated or absurd, even when the prosecutions unjust, even when perfidy played a role, even when the people who worked the case no longer fully believe in it ... it still hurts to have your work thrown away by your superior. It still damages the working relationship you have with your chain of command. Why should you work hard in the future, doing the tasks assigned to you, if your boss is just going to ignore it all? The President pardoning dozens, hundreds, thousands of individuals permanently damages their working relationship with the career employees of the Department of Justice, even (especially?) if the pardons are moral, deserved, merciful, just without a hint of corruption. Maybe that shouldn't defer justice, but it's a reason.