(can’t find the original great thread).
Wrt to the hush money trial:
A federal judge in Manhattan denied an effort by Donald J. Trump to move his already adjudicated state criminal case to the federal courts on Tuesday, rejecting his claims of bias against him as well as his claims of presidential immunity.
The judge only addressed the issue of immunity — holding (as the same judge held a year ago) that the hush money payments are unrelated to Trump’s official duties. The decision does not parse the evidence to examine whether any of it might be excluded, given the SCOTUS immunity decision. The judge declined to address issues of Judge Merchan’s alleged bias, holding that those issues are for the state appeals courts.
Too much white space. Seems no way of easily moving from beginning of thread to end without scrolling (ie. No pages). Seems I have to click ‘replies’ under certain posts to see what has been said, as opposed to seeing it sequentially in old forum. Too much info (eg. Avatars, times, users, links, etc)
The old format was not amazing, mostly due to the quote function and how threading was treated and viewed. However, I’m stil on multiple other forums and understand the format is slowly dying but this has taken usability the wrong direction. Frankly, it’s painful to view. I know a lot of work is going into this by very smart people but I’m going to tap out for a few weeks and then see if it’s usable - which it currently is not for me. Hope to see you all agiain.
How the ■■■■ did this end up here? I was replying to the forum issues thread. ■■■■ this.
Throw locks if you want. If I never heard Thrumps name again I would be very okay with that. There is a reason trump rhymes with rump. The man belongs in jail!
In DC, Judge Chutkan responds to Trump’s lawyer’s statement that this is a “sensitive” time:
“The electoral process and the timing of the election … is not relevant here. This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule”
Exactly the response that should be given. No more dancing around.
Then there was this interaction:
Defense: Justice Thomas directed us to raise this issue
Judge Chutkan interjects: “He directed you to do it?”
Defense: Well… he didn’t direct us to
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if someone from the Thomas family directed them to raise the issue. Both of the Thomas’ are as dirty as they come.
Because of course.
New York (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after the 2024 election, Judge Juan Merchan announced Friday, explaining that his decision to delay the sentencing is in part to avoid any appearance of affecting the outcome of the presidential race.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/06/politics/judge-delays-trumps-sentencing?cid=ios_app
I am okay with that as it allows him to issue harsher punishment without being perceived as interfering with the election. If he sentenced trump to prison before the election - it would probably help trump since the sentence wouldn’t be imposed right away. If it is after the election, and especially if trump loses, then it is less likely that it will be appealed (and overturned by SCOTUS) on the grounds that it was done to interfere.
As time and incident after incident have occurred I have resigned myself to the fact that trump will never be held accountable.
That line of thinking probably played a role in the prosecution’s decision a few weeks ago not to oppose a delay in sentencing. It’s easier for Merchan to issue a tougher sentence once the election is over (especially if Trump loses).
A tougher sentence vacated via pardon is a non sentence.
That aside, since when is it our justice system’s duty to put itself below politics? Maybe it’s the candidate’s burden to bear and not run for office under indictment or post conviction. And maybe it’s the political party’s obligation to not nominate a convicted felon.
I mean, in a sane fucking world.
Also this doesn’t put them above politics either. The way to be above politics would be to treat trump just as they would any other defendant.
Yep. Let the legal chips fall how they may.
This is a cop out, IMO, and the reasoning doesn’t hold water.
The judge affects the election if he decides to sentence now or not sentence now. If he sentences now, arguably that may operate to Trump’s detriment.
But if he doesn’t sentence now, that operates to Trump’s advantage and to Harris’s detriment: the electorate do not get an informed insight into the severity of Trump’s criminality.
If it were possible - and I do not know whether it would be procedurally - I think the J should have given an indication or made a statement as to the sentence he is minded to give, but then to suspend that sentence until after the election.
“the electorate do not get an informed insight into the severity of Trump’s criminality.”
Exactly my point.
It’s a variation of the trolley problem. The judge scheduling sentencing based on anything but the court’s natural timeline is choosing to impact the election. Scheduling without consideration is to remain neutral and exempt.
This is a Trump problem and a GOP problem and theirs alone.
But, in an adversarial system of justice, it matters greatly what positions the parties take. If the DA objected to a further delay in sentencing, I’d agree that Merchan should just have ruled in the normal course, doing the best he can to ignore the political implications. But, the DA, who represents the people, didn’t do that. The DA practically agreed to the delay. When both sides, represented by competent counsel, are more or less aligned, judges usually go along.
Thanks for that context, I wasn’t aware.