here is the recent episode of the Headlines podcast.. the topic is, largely, the appropriateness of the celebrations around Rubashkin's release. I was hesitant to post this because I did not want to raise this issue again, after I said my opinion, but this is a discussion with rabbonim and lawyers and is interesting.



My only comment on this episode is that when interviewing the lawyer, Gary Apfel, Apfel was insistent that Rubashkin is really innocent in this case and was basically railroaded into a conviction. After Trump's commutation of the sentence, Apfel says the system of checks and balances works and an innocent man got out of jail - rather than taking the position that he did a crime and was over-sentenced and the commutation was fair because of the over-sentencing.

My comment would be that the fact that President Trump did not pardon Rubashkin but commuted his sentence, that shows that Trump was not convinced Rubashkin was really innocent, as Apfel suggests. Rather, Trump seems to have thought Rubashkin was guilty but was over-sentenced and he thereby righted a wrong. If the checks and balances with the commutation were to show Rubashkin's innocence, it would have to have been a pardon rather than a commutation. The commutations suggests guilt, though not deserving of the harsh sentence originally given - in opposition to Apfel's opinion.