A former Illinois deputy has been sentenced to 20 years for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911 for help.
Sean Grayson, 31, was convicted in October of second-degree murder. Grayson, who is white, received the maximum possible sentence and has been in police custody since being charged in the killing.
Massey’s family members, who were sitting in the court, celebrated his sentence with a loud cheer: “Yes!” The judge admonished them.
Grayson apologized during the sentencing, saying he wished he could bring Massey back and spare her family the pain he caused.
“I made a lot of mistakes that night. There were points when I should’ve acted, and I didn’t. I froze,” he said. “I made terrible decisions that night. I’m sorry.”



true story, in non-shithole countries, leaders cannot randomly pardon people.
Which ones are these ‘non-shithole’ countries? I’m not an expert (either in law, or in shitholery) but as far as I’m aware these pardons exist in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia, Poland, Morocco, Ireland… so I’d bet that places where ‘leaders cannot randomly pardon people’ are, in fact, the exception.
You misunderstand the use of the royal prerogative in countries like Australia. They aren’t for personal use by an individual to show favour to their friends and supporters. The process for their use is very different and there are considerable checks and balances on executive power. I can’t speak for the other countries on the list. It is literally true that “leaders cannot randomly pardon people” under our system. No Australian leader has that power. I am no constitutional scholar so I will refer you to Professer Anne Twomey who is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShMyCNrrQ-M
Lol. The 'Muricans use to boast about theirs too. Not anymore, do they?
At the end of the day those are only words written in a piece of paper and can’t do anything if the gang of thieves (politicians) with a gang of thugs (forces) decide to wipe their asses with it.
As I said, I’m not an expert in law, but for what I’ve seen when someone tells me their country (or maybe not theirs but one they have idealized) is different, it ends up not being true. Usually it’s just luck they’re wealthy enough and shit hasn’t hit the fan yet.
yes I’m aware we are not the literal greatest country on earth (despite frequent claims to the contrary) and are in fact far from it, I’ve had many frequent reminders and am aware, vaguely, of how other countries do things better than we do. But by all means don’t miss the chance to remind the ones in the back who don’t know this, though I struggle to think of how many of those people would be on Lemmy.
Yeah, I have news for you. If the far right gets a hold of Canadian institutions as they have to your south, then your own royal prerogative of mercy can end up just as subject to misuse as it has become here.
I’m glad your democracy is holding. For now.