zlacker

Keep in mind that he spent 11 years locked up.

He's not getting off lightly!

>>Burnin+(OP)
It's still not enough.

>>Burnin+(OP)
What do you mean "lightly?" He ran an illegal drug market and tried to assassinate a competitor. We gave him the punishment that society has determined one should receive for this. Revoking his punishment is "light."

>>mplewi+04
Hence why, if DPR was going to get off somehow, a sentence commutation would have been better rather than an unconditional pardon. The latter implies he did absolutely nothing wrong, which hilariously runs counter to Trump's supposed tough on drugs and crime shtick he has.

>>Burnin+(OP)
I'm just shocked it was a full pardon instead of a commutation or something. I don't think the US is gaining a ton from keeping him locked up but he still did run an organization he knew was used for selling drugs and other illegal things and a full pardon for that seems weird. I feel like I mainly heard people talking about commuting his sentence

>>tdb789+N4
Is there some reason he should not be allowed to vote, own a firearm, or receive federal benefits?

>>mplewi+04
The judge issued the punishment at their sole discretion. The legislature sets the laws often without any input from the constituency.

Meanwhile a sizable campaign has materialized around this case and many people do feel he has done enough time and should be free without any restrictions

>>timewi+N8
He was convicted and the party of law and order typically views these punitive post release measures to be part of the punishment.

>>timewi+N8
Yes. He was convicted of several crimes.

>>timewi+N8
Why should he be treated differently then people who committed similar crimes?

>>timewi+N8
No one said anything about voting or benefits? That's an entire different discussion.

It's just that, in layman's terms, a pardon means "you did nothing wrong", whereas a commutation means "you did something wrong but were sentenced too harshly". As far as I know that's also what it more or less means legally (with some nuance).

I'm absolutely not a fan of "tough on crime" sentencing, but he absolutely did do something wrong, even if we ignore the contended "murder for hire" claims he should have been sent to prison for a number of years (personally, I'd say about 5-10 years). This is also by Ulbricht's own admission by the way.

>>timewi+99
> many people do feel he has done enough time and should be free without any restrictions

This could be said for any number of people rightfully detained by the US for crimes of incredible magnitude.

>>tdb789+N4
He built a website. He didn't dictate how people used it. That was the point. He was charged as a drug kingpin with mobster era consequences. His sentence didn't fit whatever crimes he did or didn't commit.

>>liquid+Pj
Trump killed Net Neutrality during his first term and you think he would use it to justify the actions of someone running an internet black market that trafficked in drugs, prostitution and murder?

>>tallda+0h
Which is why "jury nullification" still exists. Just because a law exists does not mean the public good is automatically improved by blithely enforcing it with zero tolerance.

>>timewi+vI
Jury nullification isn’t granted existence. It’s not an express power, it’s just a natural consequence of the jury system.

It’s not possible to make it not exist.

>>timewi+99
That almost sounds like what commutation is for.

It's certainly not what pardons are for.

>>ecocen+Yo
The difference between Obama’s ideal Section 230 and Trump’s is a good point. Even though the President doesn’t enact legislation, Trump issued a formal paper calling for changes to Section 230. Looks to me like DPR was more innocent under Obama.

>>liquid+Pj
If someone facilitated a transaction of goods that were illegal between two people and received a cut of the sale, do you think they deserve some culpability?

>>tdb789+N4
I agree that a commutation would have made much more sense.

But "always make sense" doesn't seem to be in Trumps OKRs...

That's mostly a symbolic difference though. The practical end result is the same