this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2024
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politics

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(page 2) 49 comments
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[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

He pardoned hundreds of people for nonviolent weed offenses and nobody bat an eye, but I'm sure every little bit helps.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Common Democratic PR fumble.

I swear to God, the Dems PR team is all Republican undercover agents.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Why are people acting like this is too difficult? Biden doesn't have to go through every file himself. Form a small committee of legal experts you respect and take a bite out of what you can.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Pardon everyone and burn this place down.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

pardon everyone except the january 6 people

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Calm down Joan Baez.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

The letter noted that the US has disproportionately incarcerated people of color, low-income individuals, members of the LGBTQ+ community and those with disabilities, and that 90% of the federal prison population was convicted on non-violent offenses.

90% of them are non-violent offenders. I'm not convinced the other 10% would result in the country burning down. They weren't born in prison, but the country still managed to arrest them when they did something wrong. How about we arrest them again if they break the law instead of self-immolating for no reason? Or just pardon the 90% with non-violent offenses.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

This would have been productive with a blue-ribbon commission and 2 years. But Biden should totally be able to hammer it out one rainy morning.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

He could at least pardon as many as he can get to.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

But Biden should totally be able to hammer it out one rainy morning.

Why not? Democrats should use the power of the government to improve people's lives.

edit: looks like lemmy downtime caused a double post

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Democrats should use the power of the government to improve people’s lives.

That would be out of character for them.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I feel like that if one pardon commits a crime, it will be spun like illegal immigrants where one person's actions defines the group.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

How about instead of letting Republicans control the narrative we point out how immigrants have been treated unfairly by the system and tell everyone we think the pardon is a great idea. People are doing it for Hunter Biden why not immigrants?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Pardon everyone, make everyone a billionaire, and banish climate change with the last wish.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago

Why is doing a useful thing to help people always framed as being unreasonable but nepotism is celebrated?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I also would like one order of a "full unconditional pardon of any crime that I may or may not have committed, from [date of my birth] to [date of my death], and also pardon all my debts and taxes also effective from the same time period please."

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This sounds like a wish list of a Sovcit

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

Nah, there's no mention of 7 silver coins and the death of the business entity created by the government in their name.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Biden needs to use the insane powers bestowed upon the Presidency to limit the incoming one. Full fucking stop.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

This is a terrifying precedent, though. If it becomes demonstratable that a sitting president can ignore the vote and veto the election, then every president from then until the end of time can argue against the "damage" the next president will cause. This was Hitler claiming "emergency powers," and you will immediately have a dictatorship, not a democracy.

I'm not saying another Trump presidency is "fine" by any regard, but I don't believe in being a fascist to prevent fascism.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

The alternative is do nothing and then act surprised when the GOP do whatever the fuck they want anyway, regardless of Democrat high-road stances.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's already happened. It can't be undone.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The Supreme Court could be undone.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Not in this political climate. Dafuq you talking about?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

A straightforward way to protect people from fascists would be to get them out of prisons where they will otherwise be easy targets.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

XD They need to give him his aviators, it's way too bright out there for him. I would probably be squinting too lol. edit: typo

[–] [email protected] 80 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses

It's a noble idea in principle. But how the hell can a sizeable number of innocent or excessively punished people be pardoned on a case by case basis in the span of under 7 weeks?

This is an extremely impractical idea to implement, and reeks of empty grandstanding in by Jeffries.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

he can gather a team of lawyers to go through the files and compile a list. lawyers have evolved past the need for sleep, so they have an extra 8 hours a day to go through files. should be doable in 7 weeks.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Just pardon them all to bankrupt the prison system and realize that while you let a few awful people go free most of the people you pardoned and those around them will have markedly better lives.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's the bare minimum. We are supposed to have justice for all in this country. Not just justice for Hunter Biden.

How about Biden starts now and focuses on getting as many done as possible. What's this angle of pretending it's too difficult?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

He could start today and get through at least 35. I'm betting we'll see less than that though.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago

Anything would be better than nothing. People are saying democrats should challenge norms. I agree. Get these pardons moving.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's also entirely too broad to mean much of anything.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The letter noted that the US has disproportionately incarcerated people of color, low-income individuals, members of the LGBTQ+ community and those with disabilities, and that 90% of the federal prison population was convicted on non-violent offenses.

What are you talking about? If the rich and the powerful get justice why not the rest of us too? Since when has justice been too broad?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's kind of exactly my point. 90% is still a lot of people and I doubt the database of federal inmates has an "unjustly prosecuted" filter. But there are some non-violent white collar criminals who absolutely belong in prison (including about half of Trump's advisors) so there needs to be something to focus on like marijuana possession or whistleblowers or something else that can narrow the scope.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Here you go.

Despite these actions, the Last Prisoner Project (LPP) notes in a statement that Biden “has yet to release a single person still incarcerated for cannabis through commutation.” Although the pardons granted relief to thousands of people with a conviction on their records, the president’s clemency actions did not address the approximately 3,000 individuals serving time in federal prisons for cannabis related offenses.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2024/11/26/nonprofit-group-calls-on-biden-to-pardon-cannabis-prisoners/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

That sounds like a great place to start; it also wasn't mentioned in the headline, summary, or original article.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

So all the "he pardoned weed offenses" was just as much of a lie as "he rescheduled cannabis."

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 weeks ago

“During his final weeks in office, President Biden should exercise the high level of compassion he has consistently demonstrated throughout his life, including toward his son, and pardon on a case-by-case basis the working-class Americans in the federal prison system whose lives have been ruined by unjustly aggressive prosecutions for nonviolent offenses,” Jeffries said in a statement.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 3 weeks ago

The first people the fascists are going to go after will likely be minorities and immigrants in prison.

If Joe Biden pardoning Hunter Biden doesn't bother you then neither should this. This is what we should be calling for, because the justice system isn't fair to anyone, not just Hunter Biden.

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