undefined | Better HN

0 pointsdane-pgp4y ago0 comments

I keep wondering if a president can grant pre-emptive clemency, to limit the length of a sentence that hasn't been decided yet.

If the maximum sentence is 150 years, but Biden would settle for keeping him locked up another 4 years (so that he doesn't interfere with the 2024 election), then the naive thing to do would be to grant a 146 year reduction of his sentence, but this could end up with Assange serving a sentence of negative length if the judge hands him a sentence less than the maximum.

More seriously, I wonder if Assange's time spent in prison in the UK fighting extradition to the US (after his punishment for skipping bail was served) will count as time served towards whatever sentence he is given in the US. If so, he may only need to drag out the appeals process for another couple of years and the US will have punished him more through the process of him proving his innocence than the sentence he is being threatened with if guilty.

0 comments

1 comments · 1 top-level

pmyteh4y ago

Prosecutors can commit to only asking for a particular sentence, but AIUI they can't formally tie the hands of the judge. The sentencing guidelines may also suggest a sentence far below the theoretical 150 year maximum.

One thing that they have done is undertake to consent to any request from Assange to serve any sentence in Australia. So I don't know whether trying to wait out the clock in Belmarsh would be a good move anyway.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse