2 ms·

Agree. It seems to have (never had?) any positive benefit.

guywithahat 1y ago
I mean there are lots of people arrested on effectively political charges, and it's good to be able to reflect on it years later and get them out of jail. I'm not convinced Changpeng Zhao's charges would have ever been brought against him if the Biden admin didn't go so hard against crypto, I'm happy to see him pardoned. Hopefully next Trump can get whistle blowers like John Kiriachou
- strangattractor 1y ago
  Doesn't necessarily have to be left up to the whims of one person though.
  - guywithahat 1y ago
    Why not? A large portion of the punishment is just going through the court system. For a significant amount of time all you can do is stress about your next court date, you can't get work and burn through your savings. In his case he has already paid tens of millions in his money and the company paid billions. He spent four months in jail, and has spent years out of work. By the time a pardon comes the persons life is usually already in deep distress, and whatever they were working on is likely already over. I don't see why it's such a tragedy to let some people get pardoned who maybe don't deserve it.
- stevage 1y ago
  Trump essentially defines all convictions that he doesn't agree with as political charges though.
cogman10 1y ago
IDK, I think Carter's pardon of draft dodgers was a pretty good use of the pardon power. The problem seems to be that we have unjust laws and punishments. We should have some way to apply mercy in that case. For example, I (hope to) see a future where people jailed for MJ related crimes get a mass pardon.
- ahtihn 1y ago
  > The problem seems to be that we have unjust laws and punishments. We should have some way to apply mercy in that case. The solution is to fix that and make it retroactive. Remove the unjust law and release anyone who was convicted for violating it. A pardon is just a bad, unfair bandaid fix.
soraminazuki 1y ago
Chelsea Manning. Prosecuting her and other whistleblowers instead of the officials they blew the whistle on was a mockery of justice. Though that wasn't the stated reason for the commutation, it was long overdue.
- AniseAbyss 1y ago
  [dead]
FuriouslyAdrift 1y ago
Obama commuted the sentences of 1,715 individuals and issued 212 pardons for non-violent fedral drug convictions.

I mean there are lots of people arrested on effectively political charges, and it's good to be able to reflect on it years later and get them out of jail. I'm not convinced Changpeng Zhao's charges would have ever been brought against him if the Biden admin didn't go so hard against crypto, I'm happy to see him pardoned. Hopefully next Trump can get whistle blowers like John Kiriachou

strangattractor 1y ago
Doesn't necessarily have to be left up to the whims of one person though.
- guywithahat 1y ago
  Why not? A large portion of the punishment is just going through the court system. For a significant amount of time all you can do is stress about your next court date, you can't get work and burn through your savings. In his case he has already paid tens of millions in his money and the company paid billions. He spent four months in jail, and has spent years out of work. By the time a pardon comes the persons life is usually already in deep distress, and whatever they were working on is likely already over. I don't see why it's such a tragedy to let some people get pardoned who maybe don't deserve it.
stevage 1y ago
Trump essentially defines all convictions that he doesn't agree with as political charges though.

cogman10 1y ago

IDK, I think Carter's pardon of draft dodgers was a pretty good use of the pardon power. The problem seems to be that we have unjust laws and punishments. We should have some way to apply mercy in that case. For example, I (hope to) see a future where people jailed for MJ related crimes get a mass pardon.

ahtihn 1y ago
> The problem seems to be that we have unjust laws and punishments. We should have some way to apply mercy in that case. The solution is to fix that and make it retroactive. Remove the unjust law and release anyone who was convicted for violating it. A pardon is just a bad, unfair bandaid fix.

soraminazuki 1y ago

Chelsea Manning. Prosecuting her and other whistleblowers instead of the officials they blew the whistle on was a mockery of justice. Though that wasn't the stated reason for the commutation, it was long overdue.

AniseAbyss 1y ago
[dead]

FuriouslyAdrift 1y ago

Obama commuted the sentences of 1,715 individuals and issued 212 pardons for non-violent fedral drug convictions.