Libertarian Party Encouraged Trump To Forgive Ross Ulbricht
The Libertarian Party has urged President Trump to pardon Silk Board founder Ross Ulbricht, who is presently serving a life sentence with no parole likely for his part in launching and operating the Silk Road website, which operated illegal drug trading. The party issued a resolution requesting the pardon at its annual convention on July 3.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court has denied Ulbricht’s request for a writ of certiorari, which stops him from appealing his sentence before the court.
“We’re opposed to the drug war in all of its forms,” Richard Fields, the press secretary of the party’s national committee, told CCN.com. “Ultimately, that’s what Ulbricht was convicted for.” Fields stated the charges of attempted murder against Ulbricht were dropped prior to his trial.
In his plea, Ulbricht’s lawyers indicated the prosecution withdrew evidence that DEA agents that were part of Ulbricht’s arrest were charged with malfeasance, Fields went on to add.
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. the United States setting an example that warrantless search of Ulbricht’s Internet traffic will not have permitted had the case been decided before his trial.
Darryl Perry, chair of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, forwarded the appeal resolution at the party’s recent convention. An attendee stated that given that Ulbricht’s appeal to the Supreme Court was not granted the week before, his only hope of going free is through a pardon.
“We need to send a clear message now, and in two years, and in two more years we need to keep sending this message that we have a political prisoner who is serving two life sentences plus 40 years for the crime of running a website, being a libertarian and being unapologetic about doing those two things,” an attendee commented prior to the vote on the resolution, according to a YouTube video of the proceedings. The convention unanimously passed the resolution.
“If for some reason President Trump does not choose to accede to our resolution that we passed today, then I think that we just need to elect a libertarian president in 2020 to get this shit done,” Perry said.
