Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by ch4s3 on Saturday November 26, 2022 @10:41PM
(#33760062)
This always feels funny to me, like sure Lula’s conviction was thrown out but I’ve never seen any compelling explanation for the apartment he was convicted of accepting as a bribe.
Re:Anti-War Speech Sent Eugene V. Debs to Prison, 1918
by quickthrower2 on Sunday November 27, 2022 @12:52AM
(#33760752)
I agree but your argument isn’t convincing because people are
convicted by juries presented with evidence not public opinion.
A better argument is that it is a check/balance against laws that are not democratic putting people in prison that provide a good opposition the current president.
The incoming president of Brazil had his convictions thrown out because the process was fraudulent. IIRC election regulators went after Bolsanaro for calling Lula an ex-con.
That aside, I don't think enough people explicitly hold popular sovereignty (expressed as democracy) over the rule of law. Law that isn't subject to popular sovereignty is obviously subject to some other kind of soverign. You shouldn't be jailing people who have a reasonable chance of being elected as the head of the executive, because if the public would elect them, the public doesn't think that they should be jailed.