The United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Robert Hur, has filed a dismissal on the pending charges of 'murder-for-hire' that were used to impose a life sentence on Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road infamy.
Silk Road was used as a black market to allow unrestricted sale and purchase of anything, most notably of illegal drugs. But when Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison, he claimed it was due to an allegation that he tried to hire a hitman to commit murder. This apparently false claim influenced the judge to dish out harsher sentence: life.
Ulbricht recently tried to appeal his life sentence through a petition for writ of certiorari. Twenty organizations also filed amicus curiae briefs in support of Ulbricht to have his case reviewed by the Supreme Court. These support organizations included the National Lawyers Guild, the Gun Owners of America, and the Reason Foundation Guild. But the Supreme Court denied his appeal. They wouldn't hear his case for an appeal at all. Supporters viewed the ruling as a "devastating" close to his case.
Ulbricht argued that his Fourth and Sixth Amendment rights had been violated during the investigation of his alleged crimes and during his trial. The appeal was looked at as raising important constitutional questions that would merit being granted a court hearing to deal with.
Ulbricht claims evidence collected was done unconstitutionally without a warrant, and that the "unreasonable sentence" was levied against him based on unsubstantiated claims he had hired a hitman. He was never charged or convicted of that alleged crime. Despite this, the Supreme Court deemed his case unworthy to receive even a hearing. He has never received due process for the allegation of hiring a hitman, yet his life sentence from such allegations remains.
Another case, Carpenter v. United States, had a similar positive ruling in favor of the Fourth Amendment violations of unconstitutional gathering of electronic evidence. Legal expert Tom Goldstein who co-founded the SCOTUSblog and taught Supreme Court litigation at Harvard Law School, thought Ulbricht's case had a reasonable change of being heard by the Supreme Court.
Now that the Supreme Court has denied Ulbricht's appeal and won't give him a fair hearing to challenge the harsh life sentence that was issued from a crime he was never charged with or convicted of, his only chance is a presidential pardon.
In an effort to do so, the Libertarian party has urged President Trump to issue a full pardon to the Silk Road founder. Darryl Perry, chair of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, says that if Trump doesn't pardon Ulbricht, the USA needs to elect a Libertarian candidate as president who will get the job done.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
References:
- U.S. Attorney Moves to Dismiss Murder-for-Hire Charges Against Ross Ulbricht
- Breaking: Supreme Court Denies Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht’s Petition to Review Life Sentence
- 20 Organizations File Amicus Briefs in Support of Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht
- Libertarian Party Urges Trump to Pardon Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht
If you appreciate and value the content, please consider: Upvoting, Sharing or Reblogging below.
My goal is to share knowledge, truth and moral understanding in order to help change the world for the better. If you appreciate and value what I do, please consider supporting me as a Steem Witness by voting for me at the bottom of the Witness page.
