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andrewstuarttoday at 1:07 PM2 repliesview on HN

Pardon power can serve no reasonable goal in a functioning democracy except to subvert justice.


Replies

glerktoday at 2:10 PM

https://pardonned.com/search/?president=obama-2&categories=d...

I haven’t looked into each case here, but I assume these are a bunch of non-violent drug offenders serving years and decade-long sentences. I see 30 years for “possession with intent to distribute”. That’s just crazy.

When the justice system is clearly broken, it’s ok to subvert it.

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fernmythtoday at 1:19 PM

It’s an alternative to coups and civil wars. The deal made in private conversations is something like “Give up power peacefully. Everybody gets pardoned and goes home to their families. Nobody needs to do anything crazy or violent out of desperation to avoid prison.”