If you read Biden’s commutation comments, you know the answer to your own question. He expressly says, these cases were not individual decisions, and nobody who met the criteria was excluded. Stop sounding like a Republican. Let’s worry at least as much about the thousands of people who shouldn’t be in jail than the handful of people who maybe shouldn’t be released.
I do love the kind of liberals who really likes the parody of prison life from The Simpsons - "bread and water, icy cold showers, guards whuppin' your ass round the clock, and the only way out is suicide" - except, you know, for *other* crimes than the current inmates.
Like prison abolitionists who are big fans of Chinese gulags.
Lots of confusion in this, to be polite, ignorant article.
"Just asking questions" is a tactic best left to right-wing assholes. Yet this article is shot through with "just asking questions."
Go find the answers, and then report.
Ignorance is not an argument (Why O why did OHJ Biden do this?). Such low-effort commentary proves NOTHING about Biden, and just underlines the writer has no grist for their mill. We can all go to townhall.com for that. But we have higher expectations here.
An article full of leading, sneering questions and innuendo -- whose thesis is the banal "if I were president, well, I wouldn't have done that" -- if of little to no value. Here's a respectful request that you withdraw the article.
Said this on the main page - I'm going to say it again -- I'm concerned about the people who've been OMITTED from the list
from Rebecca -- "Biden fucked up the pardons though, and I’m not talking about Hunter, that pardon was absolutely reasonable and fine. The rest of these, after we yelled at him to pardon more people? What the FUCK"
I guess he thought we meant (or perhaps he just HEARD) "more White people"
Which has been a whole lot of the problem the whole time whenever Joe Biden screwed something up ... going all the way back to refusing to allow more witnesses after Professor Anita Hill to keep Clarence Thomas off SCOTUS
The post title here--and much of the post--is deeply misleading, which is something I never thought I'd say about Wonkette. The 1,499 people whose sentences were commuted are separate from the 39 pardons, and were all people who have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the COVID-era CARES Act. There was no list; everyone who was under home confinement under the CARES Act is eligible. The commutations are "You've been under home confinement since 2020; we're not going to send you back to jail now," and it's a blanket action that applies to all those eligible.
Chris "The Law Dork" Geidner has a post up explaining how it worked:
"Call us Wavy Gravy, but maybe everybody should be able to apply to expunge petty convictions after multiple decades? "
True story, I've smoked a joint with Wavy Gravy... but I digress.
Except for the most dangerous motherfuckers out there it is pointless to keep people in prison when they're old. It's just fucking dumb and doesn't increase public safety and costs kajillions in money. OK, I made that number up but it does cost shitloads of money, which is at least quantifiable.
When a prisoner hits 55 years they should probably be fast tracked out of the prison system, barring exceptions of serial killers, etc.
His advisors didn’t “pick names.” Everyone who was serving their sentence as home confinement under the CARES Act was eligible for commutation. Basically this was “We’re not sending you back to jail after COVID.” It’s a blanket action that applies to an entire group, exactly the opposite of “picking names.”
These pardons are not commutations. They're by name and for the specific crimes commited.
I doubt he picked the names and I doubt he was tracking any of them prior to being given the names. I doubt he looked further than being told, using the cash for kids judge as an example, it was a pardon for wire fraud since that’s what he was in prison for.
"In a statement announcing the Oct. 12 clemency actions, Biden added, “These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”"
"None of the commutations granted were individual decisions, the official added, and none who met the criteria were excluded."
A pardon removes the crime. The crime and guilty sentence are wiped away. Removed from the record. A commutation just reduces the prison sentence and leaves the crime and guilt in place.
Those pardoned are no longer felons, those commuted are.
Clearly people do have an issue with the mass commutations, because the cash for kids judge's sentence was commuted, as Marcie's article makes clear:
"Possibly the worst on the sentence-commutation list, former Judge Michael T. Conahan, who was serving 17 1/2 years and had been granted home confinement during COVID for his part in the horrific “Cash For Kids” scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania."
If you want to argue against the pardons, then you'll need to specify which of the 39 pardoned people you have an issue with. The outrage seems to be over some of the people included in the mass commutation.
"At least old Joe didn’t pardon Donald Trump? "
Yet.
I have to agree with Marcie. Some of the people Biden pardoned/commuted sentences of are scumbags who should never get a pass.
Ta, Marcie. I refuse to engage in any Biden bashing. He's human; he errs. We all do.
If you read Biden’s commutation comments, you know the answer to your own question. He expressly says, these cases were not individual decisions, and nobody who met the criteria was excluded. Stop sounding like a Republican. Let’s worry at least as much about the thousands of people who shouldn’t be in jail than the handful of people who maybe shouldn’t be released.
I do love the kind of liberals who really likes the parody of prison life from The Simpsons - "bread and water, icy cold showers, guards whuppin' your ass round the clock, and the only way out is suicide" - except, you know, for *other* crimes than the current inmates.
Like prison abolitionists who are big fans of Chinese gulags.
Lots of confusion in this, to be polite, ignorant article.
"Just asking questions" is a tactic best left to right-wing assholes. Yet this article is shot through with "just asking questions."
Go find the answers, and then report.
Ignorance is not an argument (Why O why did OHJ Biden do this?). Such low-effort commentary proves NOTHING about Biden, and just underlines the writer has no grist for their mill. We can all go to townhall.com for that. But we have higher expectations here.
An article full of leading, sneering questions and innuendo -- whose thesis is the banal "if I were president, well, I wouldn't have done that" -- if of little to no value. Here's a respectful request that you withdraw the article.
Herr: One of the main reasons I read Wonkette is for the snark. Marcie should not withdraw the snark.
Yes, I did. If you look up "snark," one of the definitions is "sarcasm."
You repeat the definition I provided. Thank you!
So, where's the sarcasm in the piece? Is it right next to the parts that factlessly conflate "commutation" and "pardon?"
Definitions of "snark" might differ slightly, but each includes HUGE doses of sarcasm.
I don't detect any sarcasm in this "piece." Do you?
Said this on the main page - I'm going to say it again -- I'm concerned about the people who've been OMITTED from the list
from Rebecca -- "Biden fucked up the pardons though, and I’m not talking about Hunter, that pardon was absolutely reasonable and fine. The rest of these, after we yelled at him to pardon more people? What the FUCK"
I guess he thought we meant (or perhaps he just HEARD) "more White people"
Which has been a whole lot of the problem the whole time whenever Joe Biden screwed something up ... going all the way back to refusing to allow more witnesses after Professor Anita Hill to keep Clarence Thomas off SCOTUS
I'm afraid to look - what about Marilyn Mosby
Yet. He probably will pardon Trump. He just doesn’t understand the times we live in now.
It seems he doesn't understand a whole lot.
The post title here--and much of the post--is deeply misleading, which is something I never thought I'd say about Wonkette. The 1,499 people whose sentences were commuted are separate from the 39 pardons, and were all people who have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the COVID-era CARES Act. There was no list; everyone who was under home confinement under the CARES Act is eligible. The commutations are "You've been under home confinement since 2020; we're not going to send you back to jail now," and it's a blanket action that applies to all those eligible.
Chris "The Law Dork" Geidner has a post up explaining how it worked:
https://www.lawdork.com/p/biden-cares-act-commutations
"Call us Wavy Gravy, but maybe everybody should be able to apply to expunge petty convictions after multiple decades? "
True story, I've smoked a joint with Wavy Gravy... but I digress.
Except for the most dangerous motherfuckers out there it is pointless to keep people in prison when they're old. It's just fucking dumb and doesn't increase public safety and costs kajillions in money. OK, I made that number up but it does cost shitloads of money, which is at least quantifiable.
When a prisoner hits 55 years they should probably be fast tracked out of the prison system, barring exceptions of serial killers, etc.
Just to be clear here, a pardon doesn’t expunge the record. That’s a different thing.
**There’s Rita Crundwell, former comptroller of the town of Dixon, Illinois, who ripped off an entire town.**
Maybe because Dixon was Ronald Reagan's boyhood home--nah, that would be sort of a Trump move.
Why? Because an advisor put a name in front of him, made the case for a pardon, and he signed off on it.
The question is why did his advisors pick those names?
His advisors didn’t “pick names.” Everyone who was serving their sentence as home confinement under the CARES Act was eligible for commutation. Basically this was “We’re not sending you back to jail after COVID.” It’s a blanket action that applies to an entire group, exactly the opposite of “picking names.”
These pardons are not commutations. They're by name and for the specific crimes commited.
I doubt he picked the names and I doubt he was tracking any of them prior to being given the names. I doubt he looked further than being told, using the cash for kids judge as an example, it was a pardon for wire fraud since that’s what he was in prison for.
You're wrong. These are commutations.
https://www.lawdork.com/p/biden-cares-act-commutations
"In a statement announcing the Oct. 12 clemency actions, Biden added, “These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance.”"
"None of the commutations granted were individual decisions, the official added, and none who met the criteria were excluded."
The commutations are not pardons.
A pardon removes the crime. The crime and guilty sentence are wiped away. Removed from the record. A commutation just reduces the prison sentence and leaves the crime and guilt in place.
Those pardoned are no longer felons, those commuted are.
No one has an issue with the mass commutations.
Clearly people do have an issue with the mass commutations, because the cash for kids judge's sentence was commuted, as Marcie's article makes clear:
"Possibly the worst on the sentence-commutation list, former Judge Michael T. Conahan, who was serving 17 1/2 years and had been granted home confinement during COVID for his part in the horrific “Cash For Kids” scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania."
The list is here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/12/clemency-recipient-list-7/
If you want to argue against the pardons, then you'll need to specify which of the 39 pardoned people you have an issue with. The outrage seems to be over some of the people included in the mass commutation.
My error
Call me when Joe has goons arrest Musk for espionage and sends him and Trump to Gitmo.
Until then this issue has no salience to me.
P-Funk yesterday and Stokely Carmichael & Amiri Baraka today? Is Marcie officially my Favorite Person In The World?
Why yes, yes she is.
I don't care anymore. We're not a nation of laws. Nothing matters.