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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Far be it for me to rain on the Pardon solution for the War on Drugs, but I want to note that using Pardons as a fix has its own problem.
Namely, it might get people out of prison (which is a plus) but it doesn't expunge their felony conviction. You get to go home and be with your family, which is good, but you still can't ever get a job again because you're a felony ex-con. A Pardon only absolves you of the sentence, not the conviction.
It's still better than not having it, but it is absolutely a band-aid, not a miracle cure. I don't think it would do much to deter cops, either, because even if they can't put minorities in jail specifically anymore, they still hold the power to ruin those people's lives.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Apr 30th 2019 at 11:58:31 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.IANAL, but I think a pardon prior to conviction is not the same as a post-conviction pardon and doesn't carry a conviction. So future arrests can be automatically shut down.
Not to mention that most arrests for drugs are state-level, which the President can't do anything about. It's not a perfect fix, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken.
The idea behind the pardon (not spelled out in the Constitution, but taken as precedent) is that it does not absolve a person of a crime; quite the opposite: it carries an implicit confession of guilt and contrition. "You did the thing, but we forgive you (or your conviction was unjust)," is the gist.
This is partly why Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon is seen as so controversial to this day, for two reasons. First, Nixon had not been convicted of any crime at that point; second, he did not admit to any crime as a condition of the pardon.
A person pardoned for a crime is no longer a felon by definition. They are an "ex-felon", an "ex-con", whatever you call it. At that point, you run into laws at the state level governing the rights of released felons, which vary greatly. The President can't do anything about that, at least not directly.
Edited by Fighteer on Apr 30th 2019 at 4:00:28 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Right. That, exactly.
It would still get a lot of people out of prison, which would be a net positive. I'm not against the idea. After all, I'm the one who always likes to pull out that Obama quote, "Better is Good". And this would be Better.
I just want it to be a conversation-starter, not a conversation-ender. If that makes sense.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Presidents can't reverse pardons, calling it fatally flawed is quite literally preferring the perfect over the good.
Of course, everyone would prefer legislative means to end the war on drugs. But if we can't then Klobuchar's plan would do very real good.
A bandage might be worse than a cure but when you're bleeding out it's the difference between life and death.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangIt comes down to this: do you want people immorally convicted for trivial drug offenses to remain in prison or go free? To say that the latter is worse than doing nothing at all is astonishing. Now, if we could get a legislative solution, that'd be even better, but there's no guarantee that this will happen.
Heck, the political threat of mass pardons might even sway enough members of Congress to get the ball rolling.
Edited by Fighteer on Apr 30th 2019 at 4:38:43 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!">The idea behind the pardon (not spelled out in the Constitution, but taken as precedent) is that it does not absolve a person of a crime; quite the opposite: it carries an implicit confession of guilt and contrition.
In 1915, the Supreme Court wrote in Burdick v. United States that a pardon "carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it." Over the years, many have come to see a necessary relationship between a pardon and guilt. Ford carried the Burdick quote in his wallet, defending the Nixon pardon by noting that it established Nixon's guilt. More recently, MSNBC host Ari Melber taunted Arpaio by saying he had admitted he was guilty when he accepted Trump's pardon.
But Burdick was about a different issue: the ability to turn down a pardon. The language about imputing and confessing guilt was just an aside — what lawyers call dicta. The court meant that, as a practical matter, because pardons make people look guilty, a recipient might not want to accept one. But pardons have no formal, legal effect of declaring guilt.
Indeed, in rare cases pardons are used to exonerate people. This was Trump's rationale for posthumously pardoning boxer Jack Johnson, the victim of a racially based railroading in 1913. Ford pardoned Iva Toguri d'Aquino (World War II's "Tokyo Rose") after "60 Minutes" revealed that she was an innocent victim of prosecutors who suborned perjured testimony in her treason case. President George H.W. Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger because he thought the former defense secretary, indicted in the Iran-contra affair, was a victim of "the criminalization of policy differences." If the president pardons you because he thinks you are innocent, what guilt could accepting that pardon possibly admit?
There has been a shooting at the University of North Carolina, the lone shooter is believed to be in custody. Two people are dead, four are injured (two with life threatening injuries).
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/30/us/university-of-north-carolina-charlotte-shooting/index.html
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/04/30/day-831/
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/politics/william-barr-hearing-jerry-nadler/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/william-barr-investigation-mueller-1293214
🔍 House Committee Investigations into Trump
Justice Department prosecutors are trying to block Roger Stone from reviewing unredacted portions of Mueller's report before his November trial. Stone's lawyers want review pertinent sections of the report about Stone, as well as internal memos from the special counsel's office. Sections in Mueller's report were blacked-out because they could cause "harm to an ongoing matter." (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/30/politics/roger-stone-hearing/index.html
Prosecutors subpoenaed Randy Credico to testify against Stone. Credico is expected to highlight Stone's efforts to connect with Wiki Leaks during the 2016 election about Hillary Clinton's emails, as well as Stone's alleged attempts to intimidate Credico into repeating his version of events. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/roger-stone-randy-credico-subpoena-1294231
A federal appeals court rejected a request to reexamine the constitutionality of Mueller's appointment. Andrew Miller's attorneys tried to stop a subpoena compelling Miller to testify before a federal grand jury about Roger Stone by citing alleged flaws in Mueller's appointment. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/29/robert-mueller-roger-stone-associate-court-ruling-1292498
2/ Trump mocked national security officials preparing for Russian interference in the 2020 election. Trump suggested that "China is the only game in town" and predicted that "other countries" would try to emulate Russia's efforts. In several meetings, Trump repeatedly told advisers that Russia didn't change a single vote in 2016 – even though his advisers never suggested that Russia did. He called Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election a "goddamn hoax" and insisted that his campaign was not "hacked." Trump's reported lack of focus on election security has made it difficult for national security officials to implement a comprehensive approach to preserving the integrity of the electoral process. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed the Trump administration for "not forcefully and adequately responding to the attack on our democracy" that Mueller describes in his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. (Washington Post / Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/chuck-schumer-election-security-1293068
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/us/politics/russia-2020-election-trump.html
📌 Day 827
: FBI Director Christopher Wray: Russia "poses a very significant counterintelligence threat." Earlier this week Jared Kushner downplayed Russian interference, suggesting that the Mueller investigation was more harmful to the U.S. It was also reported this week that senior White House staff have felt "it wasn't a good idea to bring up issues related to Russia in front of the President." (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/politics/christopher-wray-russia-intelligence-threat/index.html
3/ The House Intelligence Committee will make a criminal referral to the Justice Department about potential false testimony by Erik Prince. Chairman Adam Schiff said "the evidence strongly suggests that [Prince] misled our committee" about a meeting in the Seychelles islands nine days before Trump took office between Prince and a Russian financier close to Putin. Prince told the committee that it was a chance meeting, but the Mueller report revealed communications showing that it was planned. Prince is the founder of private military contractor Blackwater, the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and a Trump ally. (Washington Post / Axios)
📌 Day 483
: Mueller's team is examining a series of meetings that took place in the Seychelles, which have been characterized as an attempt by the U.S. to set up a backchannel with Russia. A Russian plane, owned by Andrei Skoch, a Russian billionaire and deputy in the Russian State Duma, the country's legislative body, flew into the Seychelles a day prior to the 2017 meeting. (NJ.com)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/new_details_emerge_on_russian_aircraft_in_seychell.html
4/ Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization are suing Deutsche Bank and Capital One to block their compliance with subpoenas from House Democrats seeking his financial records. Trump's attorneys argue that the subpoenas serve "no legitimate or lawful purpose" and were issued to harass Trump and "rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family." House Democrats called it a "meritless lawsuit" that was "only designed to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible" in order to "obstruct Congress's constitutional oversight authority." The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Trump, Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, and the Trump Organization. Deutsche Bank and Capital One intend to begin providing documents to the House on May 6th, absent court intervention. (New York Times / Politico / Axios / CNBC / CNN)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-banks-idUSKCN1RR2FW
📌 Day 825
: Deutsche Bank is providing financial records to New York state's attorney general following a subpoena for documents related to loans made to Trump and the Trump Organization. The bank is turning over emails and loan documents related to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, the Trump National Doral Miami, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, and the unsuccessful effort to buy the Buffalo Bills. The New York attorney general's office opened the investigation following Michael Cohen's testimony to Congress that Trump had inflated his assets. (CNN)
https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/04/24/politics/deutsche-bank-trump-records/index.html
5/ Trump ordered new restrictions on asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a memo sent to Kevin Mc Aleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, and Barr, Trump ordered the development of new regulations to ban asylum seekers from obtaining work permits who crossed the border illegally, impose application fees for asylum seekers, limit access to additional relief, and more. There are more than 800,000 asylum cases pending, with an average wait time of almost two years. Trump ordered that the courts to settle all current asylum claims within 180 days. (Washington Post / CNN / NBC News / New York Times / Politico)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/politics/trump-asylum-changes/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/us/politics/trump-muslim-brotherhood.html
Trump's 2020 campaign manager gave a paid speech to a room full of Romanian politicians last month. Brad Parscale's appearance doesn't break any laws as long as he doesn't do any lobbying in the U.S. on behalf of foreign clients without registering. Parscale charges $15,000 to $25,000 in speaker fees and promotes his insider's knowledge as Trump's 2016 digital media director. (Washington Post)
🎉 Good News from the Resistance: The importance of following Obama on Twitter
. [Editor's note: Super excited to announce that I’ve teamed up with Marla Felcher to share her Good News from the Resistance blog with the WTF community… because we could all use some good news right now.]
Amy Klobuchar has a plan to reverse the war on drugs — and doesn’t need Congress to do it
Hm. This is something that should be done, but I'm afraid it'd happen in lieu of the massive structural change that needs to occur. The part about it being intended as bipartisan makes me think it's not intended to accomplish as much as I'd like, too. Would also make for a good talking point for Fox News
Amy Klobuchar is a moderate and has turned this aspect of hers into her sales pitch during the primary.
In addition, her proposal reflects realism when it relies on presidential powers only; it's far from clear that Democrats will receive a trifecta in 2020 since a) all signs point to Democrats still not taking Senate elections seriously enough and b) there is no reason to believe that Evil Turtle and his pack will suddenly develop that skill called "cooperation".
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanIt petered out because while she's verbally abusive to her staff, that is literally something almost every Congressman and Senator and other career politician in Washington D.C. is. It's just not talked about. As someone commented about Veep, Selena Meyer's constant stream of insults and swearing was the most accurate depiction of Washington you'll find.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on May 1st 2019 at 1:01:19 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

The President could also instruct the FBI, DEA, and other alphabet soup agencies not to arrest, the DOJ not to prosecute, and fire anyone who didn't get with the program. He absolutely has that authority. For example, Obama told said agencies that, in states that legalized marijuana, they were to avoid making marijuana arrests.
The problem with doing something like this by Presidential fiat is not that it's outside the President's power, or that it'd set a bad precedent. Quite the opposite: it would set no precedent. The next President would be able to re-enforce the drug laws and reopen the private prisons (assuming they hadn't all gone bust in the meantime).
Also, the other thing is that any such program like this would need to be, to be done right, combined with federal aid to prison communities where the prisons close down, and that requires Congressional support. Yeah, I know a lot of people will be playing the World's Smallest Violin for people whose jobs depend on injustice, but that attitude needs to be squelched double quick. These are voters who we need to court, and they're displaced workers whose needs we need to address.