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Congressman Tries to Cut Pay of ICE Prosecutor with Racist X Account to $1 (www.texasobserver.org)
submitted 8 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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[+] -20 points 8 months ago (31 children)

This is so stupid, he does bad things on X and then as punishment they lower his salary? Not that i really care what happens to this man but this doesn't sound like a fair system to me. Either he is guilty and should get a fine or go to jail, or he is innocent and goes to work (however evil that job is) and gets paid like usual.

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  • [–] 33 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Presumably members of congress don't usually get a say in the disciplinary actions of any federal agency.

    ICE sent a letter to Veasey stating it would address the matter and that such internal investigations can take up to 120 days, but it has otherwise not provided any information.

    Veasey’s amendment came a week after the Observer reported that Rodden, who was apparently pulled from federal immigration court schedules following the Observer’s reporting last February, had returned to immigration court in Dallas.

    Since ICE doesn't want to fire the guy, this is one of the few official acts thay can be taken to "encourage" him to leave on his own.

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  • [–] -5 points 8 months ago

    Since ICE doesn't want to fire the guy, this is one of the few official acts thay can be taken to "encourage" him to leave on his own.

    Which in this case is great, since Rodden is a bad person doing bad things. But a politician shouldn't be able to say something about someones salary or employment imo. Bad people still deserve to be treated fairly, that's how rule of law works.

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  • [–] 19 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    This isn't a matter of law and no one is making that argument. This is an employer potentially taking disciplinary action which has nothing to do with legality.

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  • [+] -13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 child)

    Politicians aren't the employer, ICE is. ICE should be abolished. According to your thinking, politicians can also lower a teachers salary because he has posted something woke online. I know no judge is involved, maybe i didn't word it clearly, but i do think this has to do with rule of law because it is about who has something to say about the actions of an individual outside of his job, which is a very relevant factor imo.

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  • [–] 9 points 8 months ago (21 children)

    You’re defending the racist white supremist ICE prosecutor?

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  • [–] -1 points 8 months ago (20 children)

    No i'm saying he is doing something stupid.

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  • [–] 17 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    and employers have evry right to remind folks “free speech” does not mean “no consequences.”

    as someone who’s taxes pay this douchebag’s salary, I am fine lowering it to 1. Or fine firing him for conduct unbecoming.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    as someone who’s taxes pay this douchebag’s salary, I am fine lowering it to 1. Or fine firing him for conduct unbecoming.

    Do you realise you're taxes also pay for a teachers salary, and politicians having something to say about this salary also means they have something to say about that teachers salary? I would be fine with ICE lowering his salary, i'd be fine with ICE firing, i'd be fine with him being taken to jail after a fair trial. But politicians having this power is very very dangerous in the current political climate, even if this single time the power is used for doing good.

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  • [–] 6 points 8 months ago (9 children)

    Why do you feel it is unfair for his salary to be lowered?

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  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago (8 children)

    Because the rule of law is, that if you commit crime x you get punishment y. Lowering salary is not a regular punishment. If he would be fined with paying a fine the amount of his salary that would be ok with me. I'm not saying this man doesn't deserve punishment. But if his punishment was torture i'd also call that unfair.

    Rule of Law means equal punishment for equal crimes regardless of the person committing them, so he should get the same punishment as someone who doesn't work at ICE.

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  • [–] 16 points 8 months ago* (7 children)

    As far as I can tell he didn’t break a law, it’s just a conflict of interest to have a racist prosecuting immigrants. So cutting his pay to force him out of the position was all that could be done by the people trying to remove him from that role. But you feel that isn’t fair.

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  • [+] -6 points 8 months ago (6 children)

    If you don't break a law you shouldn't be punished by the office that is about whether laws were followed or not. I know that sounds crazy. He could be punished by his employer, fine. He could be punished by an angry mob, fine. But if this guy gets punished while not breaking the law, you can bet some other people who didn't break the law will still get punished. For me considering something legally fair has nothing to do with what he deserves. I don't think we'll come to agree on that.

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  • [–] 8 points 8 months ago (5 children)

    If you’re at work and you do something that would get you fired (which isn’t against the law) you should be fired. Why defend a racist in this scenario?

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  • [–] -4 points 8 months ago (4 children)

    I'm not defending him, that's the result of me arguing the system should be fair. If his employer would fire him, i would be silent. Politicians are not employers. Let's look at it from another perspective; imagine a colleague of this racist have an x account where he tells people to come to protests about climate change, do you think a politician should have something to say about his salary too?

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  • [–] 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    So weird. And yes, you're defending him.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    I'm not. I'm defending his position. It has nothing to do with the rotten apple himself.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    The position of being a racist. That's what's being discussed. Racism is not a crime so it's an absolutely bizarre position to say that for some arbitrary reason, only law should be able to punish him for being a racist.

    My employer can dock my pay or fire me for being a racist. Being a racist is not a protected characteristic. One has to wonder what the hell your point here would be.

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  • [–] -2 points 8 months ago

    My employer can dock my pay or fire me for being a racist.

    Your employer can and should if you did something racist while doing your work. Your employer should not be able to fire you or lower your salary you for stuff you post online in your free time. Not even is that is as vile as this guys stuff. I'm not arguing he isn't a racist. Aside that, politicians aren't the employer of individual officers, teachers, social workers, etc.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (5 children)

    Why assume he's being stupid? Seems his opinions are intentional and informed.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (4 children)

    You can do something intentionally and still have someone consider that stupid. I get a lot of downvotes because people like him punished. I'm fine with him being punished, i am not fine with politicians acting as employers. A politician should also not be able to vote on the salary of a teacher, policeman or someone who cleans the government buildings. That is what i called stupid, the fact that he can punish someone for something wrong.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago* (3 children)

    I see your point and have been upvoting you because it is absolutely true that once a standard is disposed with in service of a just cause, it tends to be disposed with for pretty much any cause thereafter, no matter how unjust. It IS a loss when just practices and standards are overturned, especially when it's because there's nothing else left to do.

    The problem is that we are in a state of extreme social and political dysfunction where normal routes of dealing with corruption and bad actors have themselves been hijacked. This, getting rid of a fair standard in order to accomplish a desired goal that should have gotten taken care of far earlier and by other fair rules -- what you are protesting -- is all that's left.

    As I said in another comment, in a functioning society we would not now be having this conversation. The usual practices would be taking care of most of this, with time and resources available to deal with outliers. But here we are. I appreciate your stand, I just wonder if there will be anything left to defend when the dust settles.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    I think i should have been less judging and more understanding of the small amount of power the good guys have left. I know how it is right now is very far away from how it should be and i understand the weapon you have is a lot better than the weapon you wish you had. I'm looking in from the outside and seeing all these standards being overturned is very depressing. I want to shout 'DON'T DO IT, IT WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU!', but at the same time who am i to judge, especially when it will be used against you no matter what you do. I think rooting for a fair system might not be as important right now as rooting for the people who are fighting an uphill battle against powerful villains. I never expected my first comment would get so much backlash, so it definitely was insightful to hear so many people disagree with me.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    Nah, you're good. I'm glad we still have people speaking up for what is actually right, and not just that which has become necessary because everything else built on fairness has collapsed. And you're right, unfortunately: every rule broken now will probably be broken for all, and for the worst of reasons.

    If these are your first comments then I look forward to more. You sure did get a warm welcome to Lemmy, lol.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago*

    I thought you didn't like new Accounts? You blasted me pretty good for having a new account just yesterday actually. Called me a bot and a troll. Was part of your whole strawman argument, remember? You didn't address a single point, just chirped the age of my account. AND THEN YOU DELETED YOUR REPLY when I torched it with my rebuttal. Super accountable of you! My comment is still there, visible for all to see.

    Nice job being another spineless American. Couldn't even cut it on the internet. One more nasty, spineless American to add to the list. No wonder your country is getting rolled daily.

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