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There is a good argument for why the creator of Silk Road shouldn't go to prison
(Free Ross Ulbricht) Ross Ulbricht
Ross Ulbricht, the creator of online black market Silk Road, was sentenced to life in prison by a judge in federal court Friday.
Earlier, I argued that if you believe drug kingpins should get harsh sentences, then computer and bitcoin guy Ross Ulbricht deserves a harsh sentence. (I should clarify that my definition of a harsh sentence is, like, any time spent in prison. Life in prison is unconscionable.)
Bloomberg View's Matt Levine disagreed fairly vehemently with my argument.
This is an excerpt from our Twitter conversation about it:
@shaneferro but I feel like ... everyone is? pic.twitter.com/xtcM6TPLFX
— Matt Levine (@matt_levine) May 29, 2015
@shaneferro You should complain about individual sentences! That's how this works!
— Matt Levine (@matt_levine) May 29, 2015
@matt_levine I don't think people shouldn't complain about his sentence. I think people shouldn't complain just because he's a coder
— Shane (@shaneferro) May 29, 2015
@shaneferro Is that a real thing that anyone's done?
— Matt Levine (@matt_levine) May 29, 2015
@matt_levine yes
— Shane (@shaneferro) May 29, 2015
@shaneferro Well still. Uniting different interest groups against our vicious system of drug sentencing is probably a good thing.
— Matt Levine (@matt_levine) May 29, 2015
@shaneferro Well-off dopey white libertarians should oppose mass incarceration, and if this is their call to action, I don't object.
— Matt Levine (@matt_levine) May 29, 2015
The funny thing about where the conversation ended up is that this is actually not that far off from the larger point I was trying to make. Maybe I just didn't do it very well.
I hope Silk Road sets off a debate about drug sentencing. But arguing that he doesn't deserve it because "it's just a website" is wrong.
— Shane (@shaneferro) May 29, 2015
If you don't believe that any drug dealers should go to prison, then Ross Ulbricht shouldn't either.
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