<story><title>Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>acheron</author><text>75,000 men were convicted under the same law, of whom 26,000 are still alive. [1] Only Turing has been &amp;quot;pardoned&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;My understanding [2] is that the &amp;quot;pardon&amp;quot; implies there was nothing wrong with the law as such, just that Turing is forgiven for having broken it. So while I guess this is better than nothing, I don&amp;#x27;t know if it&amp;#x27;s really the way to go about it.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/130719-0001.htm#13071970000373&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.publications.parliament.uk&amp;#x2F;pa&amp;#x2F;ld201314&amp;#x2F;ldhansrd&amp;#x2F;t...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] I am not a lawyer, nor British, so give my understanding as much weight as it deserves...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pcrh</author><text>Something in what you wrote reminds me of the many men shot for &amp;quot;cowardice&amp;quot; during WWI, some of whom were pardoned[1].&lt;p&gt;Many of those shot were suffering from PTSD (then called shell shock).&lt;p&gt;It is painful to consider the unjust fate of many people in the past, and even those alive today (would you care to take a walk in the Congo or Rwanda and discuss justice with those you might meet? Or perhaps take a walk in Syria?).&lt;p&gt;I really don&amp;#x27;t wish to contradict the sentiment of your statement, but only to say that &amp;quot;justice&amp;quot; is sometimes a luxury, and one which we should try to provide for everyone.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/hundreds-of-soldiers-shot-for-cowardice-to-be-pardoned-412066.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;uk&amp;#x2F;this-britain&amp;#x2F;hundreds-o...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25495315</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>acheron</author><text>75,000 men were convicted under the same law, of whom 26,000 are still alive. [1] Only Turing has been &amp;quot;pardoned&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;My understanding [2] is that the &amp;quot;pardon&amp;quot; implies there was nothing wrong with the law as such, just that Turing is forgiven for having broken it. So while I guess this is better than nothing, I don&amp;#x27;t know if it&amp;#x27;s really the way to go about it.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/130719-0001.htm#13071970000373&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.publications.parliament.uk&amp;#x2F;pa&amp;#x2F;ld201314&amp;#x2F;ldhansrd&amp;#x2F;t...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] I am not a lawyer, nor British, so give my understanding as much weight as it deserves...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>stormbrew</author><text>So much this. It drives me nuts that the narrative on this issue always seems to boil down to the idea that Turing somehow &lt;i&gt;earned&lt;/i&gt; not being persecuted for being gay through his efforts in the war and the injustice was that the government didn&amp;#x27;t live up to its end of the bargain, not the fact that he and many others were driven to suicide or horrible lives by this terrible law.</text></comment>