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Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#279151: Apr 30th 2019 at 8:25:07 AM

Considering that I suspect that his whole empire is basically a giant ponzi scheme, I wouldn't mit it blowing up.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#279152: Apr 30th 2019 at 8:28:03 AM

Does Trump have any legal ground to stand on here, at all?

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#279154: Apr 30th 2019 at 8:31:28 AM

[up][up]Prolly not, but if you got an army of lawyers on retainer, it's always worth to shake the tree and see if any fruit drops.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#279155: Apr 30th 2019 at 8:35:53 AM

No, this is all just a delaying tactic.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#279156: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:02:50 AM

Amy Klobuchar has a plan to reverse the war on drugs — and doesn’t need Congress to do it

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#279157: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:04:51 AM

Well I guess that's one way to try to deal with a "Tough on Crime" image.

Disgusted, but not surprised
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#279158: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:06:27 AM

Look, an actual good policy proposal. Glad it’s in the conversation and hope the rest of the field jumps on board or proposes something similar.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#279159: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:21:55 AM

What's the plan then and how does not involve congress?

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#279160: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:22:19 AM

You could click on the link; no paywall.

[down] Sometimes it’s irritating to recap because people won’t click through. It’s understandable when there’s a paywall, but otherwise it gets frustrating.

Edited by wisewillow on Apr 30th 2019 at 9:25:09 AM

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#279161: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:23:47 AM

No harm in elaborating,right?

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#279162: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:24:20 AM

[up] Indeed.

It's basically using the power of the pardon for drug crimes.

Klobuchar’s plan would tap into one of the president’s few nearly absolute powers: the ability to grant pardons and commutations to any federal prison inmate. This is the power that President Donald Trump used last year when, after meeting with Kim Kardashian West, he commuted the life sentence of Alice Johnson, a great-grandmother in prison for drug trafficking. It’s the power that Trump has reportedly considered for former staff caught in the Russia investigation.

And now Klobuchar wants to use that power, much as President Barack Obama did toward the end of his term, to roll back mass incarceration and the war on drugs. By setting up a new system for clemency as soon as possible, she aims to release thousands of people with overly long prison sentences who’ve shown signs of rehabilitation.

In a CNN op-ed, Klobuchar laid out her plan to set up a bipartisan clemency advisory board that would give recommendations on who deserves a presidential pardon or commutation. The board would include people who advocate for criminal justice reform, as well as victim advocates and law enforcement.

“A diverse, bipartisan clemency advisory board — one that includes victim advocates as well as prison and sentencing reform advocates — could look at this from a different perspective,” she wrote. “And a criminal justice reform advocate in the White House will ensure that someone is advising the president on criminal justice reform.”

Edited by sgamer82 on Apr 30th 2019 at 10:25:52 AM

Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#279163: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:30:44 AM

Ooof. Yeah, okay, that would solve the problem of non-violent drug users getting locked up alongside hardened criminals, but I can't help but feel using what is basically a presidential emergency power as a giant band-aid won't exactly do much good to the balance of power.

As my programmer friend would say: "Dem's dirty hacks"

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#279164: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:33:41 AM

"Automatically pardon anyone in federal prison for any drug crime not involving sale - and that includes pardoning possession with intent to sell because I don't believe in imputed intent like that" is how I'd do it. But that might be a little far.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#279165: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:34:15 AM

Sure,but how many times do they get to receive the pardon? Once,twice,three times and your out?

It sounds like a great idea,in theory anyway,would be worth triala to see if it cut re offending rates

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#279166: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:37:04 AM

Well, at a certain point the cops might just stop prosecuting people for non-violent possession if they're going to be bounced out of prison the instant they land. The profit motive for private prisons, which is the biggest economic factor driving mass drug incarceration, will be gone.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 30th 2019 at 12:38:13 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#279167: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:52:19 AM

I've had that plan in my "If I were President" fantasies for years. However, I don't know if Trump would go for it as it doesn't seem to fit his ideology.

As for private prisons, Obama was going to phase them out as a whole.

There's no reason they should exist.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 30th 2019 at 9:52:51 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#279168: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:53:28 AM

Totally agreed, but what is being discussed here is a worst-case scenario where we get a Democratic President but not a Democratic Congress.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#279169: Apr 30th 2019 at 9:53:51 AM

Well, there is a reason. The reason is money. The reason is always money.

HailMuffins Since: May, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#279170: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:12:10 AM

If such a proposal were to go ahead, is the anything the Congress could do to f*ck it up?

Such, say, removing the pardoning power from the POTUS? Would such a thing be possible?

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#279171: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:16:02 AM

I think that would require amending the Constitution, so its safe. And even if it isn't, it would require a veto proof Congressional majority.

However, it wouldn't do anything at the state level, though it might encourage some Governors to take similar approaches.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#279172: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:23:33 AM

Mass pardoning everyone who breaks a law you disagree with would probably set a dangerous precedent. In fact, I'd recommend amending the constitution specifically to prevent that.

Leviticus 19:34
Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#279173: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:25:16 AM

Yeah, it would basically give the president right of veto over the judicial process. I mean, the regular pardon already kind of is, but it's not a problem as long as it happens with a certain degree of rarity.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#279174: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:50:20 AM

I’m not sure what else the precedent could be pulled off with though, what other things are federal crimes but legal in a number of states?

I guess if we ever got a federal ban on child marriage the precedent could be used by a Republican to undo that? Maybe some gun stuff, pardon people who refuse to run background checks before selling a person a gun?

It is a dangerous precedent, but the precedent isn’t that the president can make something legal on their own, it’s that on their own they can federally legalise crimes already legalised at a state level.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#279175: Apr 30th 2019 at 10:52:16 AM

A fedral ban on child marriage would be overturned by the Supreme Court for violating the 10th amendment. Cannabis laws are a good example of "legal in some states illegal federally" though.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

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