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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.
It's also entirely too broad to mean much of anything.
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?
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.
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.
So all the "he pardoned weed offenses" was just as much of a lie as "he rescheduled cannabis."
That sounds like a great place to start; it also wasn't mentioned in the headline, summary, or original article.
He could start today and get through at least 35. I'm betting we'll see less than that though.
Anything would be better than nothing. People are saying democrats should challenge norms. I agree. Get these pardons moving.
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.
"Sorry for the shitty system we're kind of responsible for. Go see Moana 2!"
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.
Bidens lawyers have been sleeping for 4 years. They can do some work for once in their lives.
He pardoned hundreds of people for nonviolent weed offenses and nobody bat an eye, but I'm sure every little bit helps.
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.
He should definitely do more.
Common Democratic PR fumble.
I swear to God, the Dems PR team is all Republican undercover agents.
More like the Dems pr is aimed at their potential donors, not their potential voters.
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.
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.
“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.
Biden needs to use the insane powers bestowed upon the Presidency to limit the incoming one. Full fucking stop.
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.
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.
A straightforward way to protect people from fascists would be to get them out of prisons where they will otherwise be easy targets.
Pardon everyone and burn this place down.
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.
pardon everyone except the january 6 people
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."
He should pardon every undocument immigrant in the US, just to stick it to Trump, any woman charged with any crime under retro-medieval aborton laws, and commute every death sentence under his jurisdiction. But he won't.
Could he pardon our loans please?
You don't pay much attention to news, huh?
Are you talking about the student loans he wrote off for a small subset of people who needed it?
I'm happy for those who got it, but that's hardly enough progress on this issue for me to give our government praise for it. Nearly all of us in the working class were still better off four years ago than we are now. Biden jacked up interest rates to address "inflation," which increased my mortgage by around $700 a month. That's more than what I pay in student loans, and that's just one example.
Things seems to just get worse slower when dems are in office, not better. IAnd I'm entirely fed up with it.
100%
They're controlled opposition; they exist to block any leftist, progressive candidates from reaching positions of actual influence. They have abandoned workers and aided in the gutting of the middle class for at least 10 years.
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.
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