this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
1021 points (99.4% liked)

News

35724 readers
2530 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.


Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.


7. No duplicate posts.


If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.


All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

true story, in non-shithole countries, leaders cannot randomly pardon people.

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] shirro@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

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

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 2 points 2 weeks ago

considerable checks and balances on executive power

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.

[–] archonet@lemy.lol 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

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.

[–] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago

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.