I doubt it’s even at the top of the list of reasons.
Is killing the president a federal crime?
Assassinating the President is.
If it happened, though, I’m sure some state would find standing for murder charges-- Perhaps the home state of the President or VP? If the same act is both a state and federal offense, does double jeopardy apply?
No. The state and federal governments are “seperate sovereigns”, so there’s no double jeopardy there. See, for instance, Michael Vick’s continuing legal woes.
About the prospective preemptive pardons mentioned in the OP… Preemptive pardons seem very counterintuitive to me. It’s like applying his current presidential power into possible future conviction scenarios. I thought the president’s powers would be null after his/her term runs out. How is something like that justified?
they were chasing an armed drug smuggler, so yes its relevant.
Jury didn’t think so.
:smack: Yup.
:smack: :smack: Yup [sup]2[/sup].
They were not chasing an armed drug smuggler. They were attempting to detain an unarmed drug smuggler, (before they were even aware that he might possibly possess drugs), and then (clumsily) attempted to do him bodily harm when he tried to surrender.
RESPONSE OF THE GOVERNMENT TO REPORTING INACCURACIES REGARDING THE COMPEAN AND RAMOS PROSECUTION (.pdf)
I’m not sure a 20 year sentence was warranted, but then they could have chosen to refrain from committing their crime in Texas where juries never make mistakes and are noted for their firm stance against crime.
Should have sentenced them to more time on the firing range.
As targets.
Plenty of drug dealers for that.
Oner of the idiots is an instructor.
The sentence may have been a bit heavy handed, (although they still had the opton not to commit their crimes in Texas), but we do not need these idiots cluttering up law enforcement in the U.S.
At any rate, this is more than a bit off topic for this thread, particularly since Bush has not pardoned them.
(Actually, I’m not sure where this thread was pointed, to begin with. So far, all the pardons have been pretty non-controversial and there is enough for which to condemn Bush without dragging in actions that are fairly typical of all outgoing presidents.)
It’s not an unreasonable view to support the death penalty for major drug dealers/kingpins. However, if you support that, I’d think a basic respect for law and civilized behavior would first require him to be found guilty and sentenced by a jury after a fair trial, rather than being shot by border agents whose lives aren’t in danger and who don’t realize he’s a drug dealer.
If we’re willing to retroactively justify these agents’ activities because the guy they shot and wounded happened to be a bad guy then we’re saying that the process doesn’t matter so long as the results are good, and by doing that, we’ve taken major steps toward tyranny and barbarism.
I think that entire list is perfectly reasonable. A bunch of more or less petty criminals who, for whatever reason, have convinced the White House that there is a good enough reason to pardon/commute. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary for any president here.
I’m a little bit surprised by Forte. It’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with it, I just wouldn’t expect a guy like Bush to pardon a dreadlocked, rapper, coke dealer who looks exactly like a classic, Republican boogeyman.
There’s some gray area here. While I wouldn’t call it a good shoot it involved an agent who perceived the fall of another agent as a scuffle with someone fleeing the police. Had they captured him it would have been a disciplinary review at the very minimum.
As it was, a drug dealer escaped across the border was seen as not worthy of the paperwork that would have involved a bad shoot.
I’m inclined to agree with you. In the “however” category the border guards are in something of a wild-west atmosphere with drug dealers so I can see them not worrying about a major player who escapes. Since the agent didn’t actual gun-butt the suspect he’s not guilty of it but it contributed to the suspects actions which led to the other agents actions. Toss in the agent falling and the event spins out of control. I’d rather see them just drummed out of the force.
And yes, this has become a hijack (but I got a different perspective on it so that’s always a good thing).