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Martin Shkreli jailed after Facebook post about Hillary Clinton

DavidFirth

Well-Known Member
I think that judges have entirely too much power in this country. Appeals courts should automatically review each decision by a federal judge the day after making a judgement to keep them honest. A federal judge can pretty much do whatever they want and that isn't right or acceptable to me.
 

The_Fisher_King

Trying to bring myself ever closer to Allah
Premium Member
I think that judges have entirely too much power in this country. Appeals courts should automatically review each decision by a federal judge the day after making a judgement to keep them honest. A federal judge can pretty much do whatever they want and that isn't right or acceptable to me.

So you think this was the wrong decision in this particular case?
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
What do you make of this?

Martin Shkreli jailed after Facebook post about Hillary Clinton

Should he have been jailed for this? Did he really overstep the boundaries of free speech?

“The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton.”
Martin Shkreli headed to jail after bail revoked over Hillary Clinton post

I'm not a lawyer, but that is too specific to be simply dismissed as a "joke". Context matters and I don't have much information, but taken at face value- this should not be protected speech given that it incites harm to another person (or a violation of a person's right to self-ownership and bodily autonomy). The boundary of free speech is harm and I have no objections with that.
 
Also it ends up costing the taxpayer as the Secret Service will have to devote resources to dealing with the threat and could potentially endanger the public if Secret Service officials have to respond to any perceived threat in a public space.

You can't differentiate between a 'prankster' and an assassin in a fraction of a second.
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Also it ends up costing the taxpayer as the Secret Service will have to devote resources to dealing with the threat and could potentially endanger the public if Secret Service officials have to respond to any perceived threat in a public space.

You can't differentiate between a 'prankster' and an assassin in a fraction of a second.

Can you imagine the conspiracy theories if Oswald had assassinated JFK with a pair of scissors?
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
An unqualified offer of five grand to snatch a sample of someone's hair sounds like it to me.

It's much as I get irritated and incensed at incurred violations as it applies to the exercise of free speech, I have to concede in this respect that although rather benign, it's really not much different in principle than somebody offering money for multiple Hitman (of sorts ) carried out on another person.

Given the specific nature of this, I'm not sure if jail time was warranted in consideration it was not a call for somebody's murder or grievous bodily harm, but certainly a hefty fine and some kind of penalty like additional community service would be.

Still it doesn't upset me too terribly that somebody like that would actually get jail at some point with something like this. I'd have to side with Hillary if she ever reacted to somebody running directly add her with a pair of scissors without knowing what the intent is.

It's one of those gray areas with me
where it's really hard to tell when Free Speech ends, and posing a real threat begins.

I'm not shedding any tears over the guy going to jail. It's hard to tell if he even learned a lesson of the potential repercussions of what he said with people taking him seriously and actually attempting such a thing.
 
Given the specific nature of this, I'm not sure if jail time was warranted in consideration it was not a call for somebody's murder or grievous bodily harm, but certainly a hefty fine and some kind of penalty like additional community service would be.

He isn't being jailed for this, he is having his bail revoked for breaking the law whilst on bail.
 
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