Posted on 05/26/2024 5:51:58 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
"We're going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught selling drugs," former President Donald Trump said in November 2022 as he launched his 2024 presidential campaign, "to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts."
That promise was not an offhand remark; it has been core to Trump's platform. Which made one of his comments yesterday at the Libertarian National Convention all the more interesting. "I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht," he said, referring to the man serving two life sentences plus 40 years for a slew of convictions, including distributing narcotics. Ulbricht's legal troubles stem an online marketplace he founded and operated called the Silk Road, where users could buy and sell illegal substances.
Ulbricht has long been of interest to libertarians, many of whom have been dogged about their belief that his sentence was perversely disproportionate to his actual conduct. Taking Trump's words at face value, it would appear the former president agrees, at the very least, that the nearly 11 years Ulbricht has served are sufficient punishment. That is hard to square with his supposed view that people who sell drugs should be put to death. The inconsistency here may be puzzling, but—as Reason's Jacob Sullum highlighted last year—it isn't new to his remarks on Ulbricht. While in office, Trump famously commuted Alice Marie Johnson's sentence after she was sent to prison for life without parole for her alleged role in a cocaine conspiracy. He widely touted the move (which was the right one) as a sign his saner approach to criminal justice.
Not long after, Trump signed legislation that bolstered that narrative: the FIRST STEP Act, which lessened several mandatory minimum sentences and increased "good time" credits, among other modest provisions. It remains one of the more lasting and effective parts of Trump's legacy, particularly when considering the very low recidivism rates for those released under the law.
Now Trump, it seems, would allegedly pursue policies that would have many of those same beneficiaries killed. That would include not only Johnson but also the bulk of the people who were set free by the FIRST STEP Act, the majority of whom were serving time for drug trafficking offenses. It would almost certainly include Ulbricht, one of the more famous drug offenders on the planet.
Trump also attempted to pull off this balancing act while he was in the White House. "We have to get tough on those people. We can have all the blue ribbon committees we want, but if we don't get tough on the drug dealers, we're wasting our time. And that toughness includes the death penalty," he said—in 2018, the same year he commuted Johnson's sentence and signed the FIRST STEP Act.
It's possible that the former president's drug-warrior rhetoric is another part of the flamboyant performance art that has become one of his defining traits. Whether his Ulbricht promise is yet another element of that, just on the flip side of the coin, remains unclear—although one possibly instructive fact is that Trump had the opportunity for four years to sign such a clemency grant and opted not to.
They don’t belive in Borders.
Do the black dealers still get early release?
If this guy does, then they should.
"In light of the overwhelming evidence, discussed below, that Ulbricht was prepared, like other drug kingpins, to protect his profits by paying large sums of money to have individuals who threatened his enterprise murdered, it would be plainly wrong to conclude that he was sentenced for accidental deaths that the district court discussed only in passing in imposing sentence," they write.
While the claim of his hiring hit men was claimed, he was never charged with that crime, nor was he convicted of that crime Bur two life sentences +40 years being reported is true, that is over sentencing for his crime.
A distinction with no difference.
It's the Art of the Deal, bro.
Plus, he commuted a whole bunch of black drug dealers during his last term in office. Give us a white guy for once!
And, he's not pardoning him. Ulbrecht is guilty, no doubt, but his sentence was a draconian miscarriage of justice. The government offered him ten years in a plea deal. 2xlife +40 is ridiculous.
I thought is was great! In fact, I think Trump performs better in front of hostile crowds than adoring ones. They were booing and he was dishing it right back to them!
"Vote for me if you want to win! If not, enjoy your three percent!"
I know I've been brutally critical of Trump these last four years but the Trump I saw yesterday was the man I donated money to.
And, God, the guy is hilarious! If nothing else, he is America's funniest president.
And right now the man is campaigning as if he has nothing to lose. The barrio bodega, New Jersey, South Bronx, Libertarians. He doesn't GAF. "Give me votes!"
It's the most energy I've seen from him in eight years.
Trump should come out with a position of being against Democrats killing themselves and each other.
They will be compelled to murder-suicide to oppose him.
There are just way too many of you lying POSs on this website anymore. I’m about done.
Don’t let the douchebag get you down, JoSixChip. Look at this person’s start date and posting history.
He/she/it is a Leftist plant, at best.
Execute certain thieves and pedophiles too! Especially home invader thieves and catalytic converter thieves. Automatic death penalty.
The issue is not whether he should have been punished or not but if the punishment fit the crime.
"Like so many others, I'm shocked by the harsh sentence on a first-time offender...Mr. Ulbricht's sentence is disproportionate to his crime." -- libertarian Rand Paul.
"I am proud to join the many prominent figures in politics and law who have raised their voices to support clemency for Ross.” – Kenneth W. Starr.
There’s a lot of wiggle room in what Trump said. Maybe he’ll commute the sentence from two life sentences plus 40 years to one life sentence plus 40 years. LOL
Courting and venturing are part of The Art of the Deal.
The seven crimes of conviction were:
(1) distribution and aiding and abetting distribution of narcotics, 21 U.S.C. § 812, § 841(a)(1), § 841(b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 ;
(2) using the Internet to distribute narcotics, 21 U.S.C. § 812, § 841(h) and § 841(b)(1)(A) ;
(3) conspiracy to distribute narcotics, 21 U.S.C. § 846 ;
(4) engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, 21 U.S.C. § 848(a) ;
(5) conspiring to obtain unauthorized access to a computer for purposes of commercial advantage and private financial gain and in furtherance of other criminal and tortious acts, 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(2) and § 1030(b) ;
(6) conspiring to traffic in fraudulent identification documents, 18 U.S.C. § 1028(f) ; and
(7) conspiring to launder money, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h).
Source: Within Background Header
No where is there a charge of murder, murder for hire, or anything remote related to murder.
Pres. Trump passed orders freeing tens of thousands of felons who were charged with drug distribution. My guess is that Trump sloppily failed to clarify that he meant convicted murderers whose murders were in the pursuance of drug dealing.
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