Jan 19, 2017In 1981, the year most of the political prisoners were sentenced, the average federal sentence for murder was 10.3 years. Puerto Rican political prisoners—who were not convicted of hurting or killing anyone—were sentenced to an average of 65.4 years—six times longer.
↩︎ North American Congress on Latin America
The colorful stories behind Obama's presidential pardons.
Not everyone accepted Obama's clemency. One man is waiting for it to be extended to others.
A former restaurant owner from Waco, in for crack cocaine crimes, elected to stay in jail as a "silent protest" against the imprisonment of nonviolent offenders.
"I would ask President Obama to sign each of the clemency petitions for nonviolent inmates, and let them go home to their families, so they can be productive and change themselves from the outside in."
He also has some hopes about the President-elect helping criminals that we probably wouldn't hold our breath on.
Chelsea Manning wasn't the only soldier to receive a pardon after leaking military endeavors.
The United States and Israel developed the Stuxnet virus, which infected computers in the Iranian nuclear program to cause malfunctions in their centrifuges. But the secret program was exposed by Newsweek and New York Times reporters, and the trail led back to a four-star general, the former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cartwright actually fainted when he realized that investigators were on to him.
There has always been something strange about the case, as it's clear that Cartwright wasn't the sole source of the leaks. Obama's pardon could come as apology for making Cartwright the victim of infighting over whether America's cyberwar capabilities need to be public to serve as an effective deterrent – a position Cartwright vocally held.
The Editors' Longreads Picks
- An excellent essay on poverty and writing by Starr Davis. Updated May 31, 2022
- Novelist Héctor Tobar tries to understand the 1992 Los Angeles riots through the experiences of a single high school.
- Steven Johnson with a long assessment of the current state of A.I. and language. (The illusion has gotten very good.)
Welcome to The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2017 edition.
- Our championship match is decided in the Tournament of Books, with news of a Rooster surprise debuting this summer. Updated Mar 31, 2017
- In Thursday's action, Reyhan Harmanci sets up a colossal final.
- The Zombie round opens with Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald reading The Nix and The Underground Railroad.
Все ваши Белый дом принадлежит нам.
- "Will Putin expose the failings of American democracy or will he inadvertently expose the strength of American democracy?" Updated Mar 3, 2017
- Wilbur Ross just wanted to make some money in ethically gray areas (that should've prevented him from taking office).
- Jeff Sessions's spokeswoman can't help but continue to lie.
The oceans are under assault, and not just from the White House and friends.
- Trump's assault on the environment begins with American headwaters. Updated Mar 1, 2017
- Don't just blame the oil companies for destroying the oceans—blame sushi restaurants.
- Nothing escapes the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. Not light, not nutrients, not pollutants.