←back to thread

The U.S. Government's Extraordinary Pursuit of Kilmar Ábrego García

(www.newyorker.com)
99 points mitchbob | 5 comments | 15 Sep 25 16:52 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
yannyu ◴[15 Sep 25 17:05 UTC] No.45252221[source]▶
In addition to everything that is terrifying about Kilmar Ábrego García's case, we have the VP and President of this country making clearly biased remarks on an active criminal case against a resident of the United States who is married to a US citizen. Is there a more clear case of violation of due process and civil rights?
replies(2): >>45252596 #>>45254008 #
nickff ◴[15 Sep 25 17:36 UTC] No.45252596[source]▶
>" the VP and President of this country making clearly biased remarks on an active criminal case against a resident of the United States"

I am sorry to break it to you, but this happens all the time, and is not a violation of due process. You can find examples of many Presidents declaring opinions on the guilt or innocence of a variety of people before their trials. [1] It makes sense that this is allowed, as the Justice Department is a part of the Executive Branch, so all prosecutions are done with the tacit or explicit approval of the President. It would be more problematic if the judges in the case expressed views on guilt or innocence before hearing the case.

[1] https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/04/25/obama-decla...

replies(4): >>45252651 #>>45252666 #>>45252667 #>>45252763 #
throwway120385 ◴[15 Sep 25 17:41 UTC] No.45252651[source]▶
Just because something is common, we shouldn't accept it if we believe it to be wrong. Slavery was once widely tolerated, as was marital rape. But people in those days decided that these things were wrong and should not be tolerated. Had they listened to arguments like yours we would still be living in those conditions.

There's also an argument to be made for holding our political officers to a much higher standard than the general populace.

replies(3): >>45252688 #>>45252693 #>>45252751 #
1. nickff ◴[15 Sep 25 17:44 UTC] No.45252693[source]▶
Do you think the Justice Department should prosecute people they believe to be innocent? If not, it seems that every prosecution is an expression of the view that the accused is guilty, and by allowing the JD to proceed, the President is expressing approval of the view. Can you please point out the error in this logic?
replies(4): >>45252828 #>>45252891 #>>45253193 #>>45255619 #
2. faut_reflechir ◴[15 Sep 25 17:54 UTC] No.45252828[source]▶
The potential source of error is the assumption that the president has the authority to stop a prosecution (short of the pardon power). I say "potential" because a "unitary executive" advocate would claim this is true, and it is becoming more true during the second Trump administration, although it was notably false during the first one. [In prior administrations, including Trump I and Obama, the DOJ appointed independent counsel precisely to prosecute cases the president would have disagreed with prosecuting.]
3. mecsred ◴[15 Sep 25 17:58 UTC] No.45252891[source]▶
Belief is not binary and can change with new evidence. You may believe it is likely someone is innocent, but should still witness all the evidence to update your beliefs. In the rare case that there is concrete and infallible evidence that the accused IS innocent, they are typically not prosecuted, or it wraps up very quickly.
4. Eddy_Viscosity2 ◴[15 Sep 25 18:22 UTC] No.45253193[source]▶
The error is this logic is that it precludes the possibility that the Justice Department thinks (know for a fact even) that he is innocent but is pursuing the case anyway because political pressure from the President preferring him to be punished rather than admit a mistake.
5. ◴[15 Sep 25 22:15 UTC] No.45255619[source]▶