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- From: nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu (Nathan Engle)
- Subject: Re: Bush's Pardons
- Message-ID: <nate.1036@psygate.psych.indiana.edu>
- Sender: news@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu (USENET News System)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: mushroom.psych.indiana.edu
- Organization: Psych Department, Indiana University
- References: <nate.1025@psygate.psych.indiana.edu> <C0FGtF.I7F@unix.portal.com> <nate.1031@psygate.psych.indiana.edu> <1993Jan7.210216.27122@dg-rtp.dg.com>
- Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 22:09:03 GMT
- Lines: 50
-
- crosmun@crosmun.rtp.dg.com (William Crosmun) writes:
- >nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu (Nathan Engle) writes:
- >> Perhaps so. I'm certainly not sure why innocent men need to be pardoned,
- >>but I agree that it was ballsy on Bush's part because it doesn't necessarily
- >>reflect the best historical light on himself. I really do think that Bush's
- >>motivations for issuing the pardons had very little if anything to do with
- >>fear of what would come out in trial, and almost everything to do with the
- >>desire to spare good men the ordeal of having to defend themselves.
-
- >Innocent men need to be pardoned for the same reason that innocent men
- >have the right to remain silent, the right to be represented by an
- >attorney, the right to a trieal by a jury of their peers, etc., which is
- >that, when a citizen is in an adversary relationship with the state there
- >need to be limits on the state if the state is to remain a guarantor of
- >liberty and not become an enemy of it.
-
- Hmmm. I thought that's what "due process" was for - so that the
- innocent could have their day in court and have their innocence
- unequivocally established for all to see. At this point it seems to me
- that there are bound to be some lingering doubts, but if it was me then
- I would probably be willing to accept the suspicions rather than spend
- weeks in court. My reputation isn't all that shiny to start out with so
- a few extra blots on the old escutcheon would be barely noticeable.
-
- >In this case, there were no limits on prosecutor Walsh. He had unlimited
- >money, unlimited discretion, no oversight. He used his powers to extort
- >guilty pleas from minor officials who had neither the power, the
- >connections or the money to fight back.
-
- It seems to me that these guys all had to have at least some
- "connections" with the Bush administration in order to get into their
- predicament in the first place. Walsh wasn't picking up people at random
- off the street.
-
- >From those who did fight, he got nothing. The problem with Walsh was his
- >lack of limits and lack of oversight; he had to be stopped. Bush couldn't
- >fire him, so he did the next best thing - make him irrelevant. Even that
- >hasn't stopped him though.
-
- Maybe he isn't quite as irrelevant as Bush thought.
-
- >Clinton should now pardon Bush and call a halt to the whole farce.
-
- If George wants a pardon then he can still resign and have Dan do
- it for him. Somehow I doubt that will happen.
-
- --
- Nathan Engle Software Juggler
- Psychology Department Indiana University
- nate@psygate.psych.indiana.edu nengle@copper.ucs.indiana.edu
-