if i was barack obama, and i was going to be succeeded by a thug

[mopinko]

i would drop a huge jobs issue by releasing as many pot prisoners, really drug prisoners in general, before leaving office.

how cool would a pardon bomb be?
let the thugs find them jobs.

right?

[NYC_SKP]

1. Right you are, Mo.

But maybe use it as leverage to convince congress to fund a comprehensive infrastructure bill so that they and redeem themselves in advance of the shaming.

[geckosfeet]

2. Nice. Throw thousands of people into an untenable situation for personal retribution.

You really think thugs will work for released prisoners?

[mopinko]

5. you wouldn't rather be out of jail?

srsly?

[geckosfeet]

8. I would. But i didn't break any laws.

Your point is taken.

But the op implied using prisoners for some kind of arm twisting.

Why do you think everyone in prison for drug charges deserves to be released? Some may. But i suspect it is less than 100%. There may be some dangerous people being turned loose with no viable job prospects.

[mopinko]

10. come on.

literary license.

[Autumn]

3. Petty thinking. You honestly think they would be concerned with them getting jobs?

It might make you feel better though.

[mopinko]

9. i am, of course, using the term "dump" facetiously.

freeing people imprisoned on bogus charges would hardly really be dumping. except in the unemployment stats.

[badtoworse]

4. Great idea. Nobody really cared about the people you'd be dumping on the street.

Fuck 'em. They'll find a way to survive.

When it comes to caring about people who need help., you'd give the Republicans a run for their money.

[mopinko]

6. actually, probably,

the mayors of their cities will care about them and if they live in a smart city, like mine, they will be able to put at least some of the pieces back together.

still, would you rather be in prison?
that would be a bad thing?

[badtoworse]

12. Stop digging

[NYC_SKP]

13. Stop digging??? LOL, You want to keep them in prison.

Wow.

Just wow.

[Autumn]

11. Obviously a person who has no idea of the struggles people

in that situation go through. Just so that they get a little personal satisfaction that a President who will get out of office and become increasingly wealthy and really doesn't give a fuck what people think of him can get a little pay back. What a callous thing for someone to want. But hey, they'll feel better cause Obama shit on the politicians .

[NYC_SKP]

14. "People in that situation"? Do you mean people released from jail?

Look it was a tongue in cheek suggestion, but it isn't shitting on the victims of the war on drugs.

Are you saying they're better off in jail, that being released is a bad situation?

I'm confused.

[Autumn]

15. No I'm not and don't even try to put those words on me.

Yes, you are confused.

[mopinko]

16. well you wouldnt really know jack shit about what i know, now would you.

and how about you? ever been to prison?

[Autumn]

19. No I haven't but I do have a family member who was in prison for drugs.

I'm well aware of the problems my Niece encountered when she got out of prison. Now I will enjoy a one day visit to the land of 'i cant hear you' and imagine the peace of ignore. You have a real nice day

[mopinko]

20. so she would have rather stayed in prison?

srsly?

[Autumn]

23. That was not what my post suggested so don't try that ..

Last edited Thu Apr 17, 2014, 01:28 PM - Edit history (2)

Have a nice day. srsly

No one objects to prisioners being freed, no one. But you think Obama should be petty and do that and cause employment problems in case republicans gain the WH just to satisfy your little ego cause Obama got picked on.

"drop a huge jobs issue " and "how cool would a pardon bomb be?
let the thugs find them jobs." , petty, petty.

Thank God Obama is not a small petty person, unlike some people

[moriah]

30. So let me get this straight. You think the three hots and a cot in jail is better than release?

Wow.

[mopinko]

7. ftr, i have high hopes that he will do this anyway.

iirc he directed doj to start accepting pleas for clemency from those caught in the coke/crack disparity.
hoping for the same in states where laws have changed.

[mopinko]

17. some days i think this place has gone straight down the rabbit hole.

this is one of them.
it would be bad to let people out of jail?
drug prisoners?
on du that is a bad thing?
because it might make the democratic president look good? and give his enemies some grief?
and nobody can take a joke anymore?

holey moly.
that's all i can say.

[chrisa]

18. Pardon every pot smoker in prison. Have some sense - a rare commodity in politics.

Has pot smoking ever hurt anyone? Let them go.

(Unless if their jailing is about something else, like cash? That couldn't be it, could it?)

[mopinko]

21. if there are other crimes, that different

and prolly, in my state, there are damn few pot smokers in jail. south part of the state, maybe, but the state prisons are way overcrowded. they divert anyone they can.

that the thing, i have to assume that most of those under draconian sentences are in red states.

[CK_John]

22. Question of process, does the president have state pardon power?

[NYC_SKP]

24. I don't think so but as so many drug busts are on federal terms...

There would still be a significant number who could be released.

Good question, I'm not certain.

[mopinko]

25. i believe so.

but hopefully the great du brain trust will chime in.

[IronGate]

31. Nope.

He doesn't have the power to pardon state prisoners, only federal prisoners.
Only state governors have the power to pardon state prisoners.

[Lizzie Poppet]

26. Federal prisoners only.

http://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardon_instructions.htm

[Comrade Grumpy]

32. No, the president cannot pardon state prisoners. But there are 100,000 federal drug prisoners.

And about 300,000 in the states.

The number of drug prisoners in the states has begun a slow decline after three decades of steady increases, thanks to sentencing reforms passed in the last decade, but the number of federal prisoners is still on the increase, driven in part by drug prisoners, but also, recently, by Obama's illegal immigration crackdown.

The president commuted the sentence of one marijuana offender this week. One.

The president COULD commute the sentence of every single drug offender if he wanted. No one could stop him.

[mopinko]

34. knew someone would know, still

there are a lot of good dem governors who might join the cause.
although, most of those already dont have that many cannabis prisoners to begin with.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. Barack Obama will be succeeded by a Democratic President.

But he should pardon all the Federal cannabis prisoners anyway.

[LuvNewcastle]

28. Why wait? He should do it now.

Prisoners who are doing time for non-violent drug offenses should be released and, depending on certain factors, should possibly be sent to rehab. I would send non-violent drug offenders who are in prison for hard drugs like heroin, crack, meth, etc., to rehab and people in prison for pot would be released and given complete freedom. Sure, the unemployment rate might go up some, but a lot of new jobs would also be created at rehab centers, so it wouldn't be huge increase.

[Orsino]

33. +1

If the president were petty enough to keep nonviolent offenders locked away in our overloaded and inhumane system just to dump them on a Republican, in what way would he be better than a Republican?

[dilby]

29. Why would you want to do that?

If you are doing it to punish someone you are a jerk, if you are doing it because you care about prisoners why not do it now and not wait till you are leaving office. Either way your idea is a bad one.

[mopinko]

35. i'll just comment once to some of you,

please check to see if you have a sense of humor at all. it's called kidding on the square. used to be a fine art around here, but i guess not so much any more.

and for those that say do it now-
that just isnt how it is done. it is something you do on the way out the door, because it protects the pardoned from becoming political pawns. mostly.
he isnt running for anything again. i think it is just the sort of thing that he would do with great pride and great joy. but he is the most rooted in reality president ever and doesnt fall into too many of pandora's boxes.
that is a good thing.

[onenote]

36. Not going to happen obviously.

At least not if its being spun as a way of creating an unemployment problem for the repubs. And it wouldn't amount to more than a drop in the bucket anyway, at least not if its limited to pot convictions.

Of the 24,366 federal drug offenders known to have been sentenced for drug related offenses, 6,336 were sentenced for marijuana-related offenses and 4,309 were sentenced for methamphetamine-related offenses in 2010.

Source:
Sacco, Lisa N. and Finklea, Kristin M., "Synthetic Drugs: Overview and Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, October 28, 2011), p. 11.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42066.pdf - See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Prisons_and_Drugs#sthash.VJ6J6X6i.dpuf