The judge overseeing the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump said he would be willing to jail the former president if he continued to violate his gag order. A banker who set up the account used to make a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels is back on the stand.
Couldn’t they just cut to the incarceration?
They could, but doing that on the 2nd round of contempt charges later this week might reduce the odds of his becoming a martyr over it
Stop saying this idiotic martyr shit.
Why? It’s an extremely valid consideration. Politics is all about appearances… if Trump confirms the violation by paying the fine without question then incarceration will be harder to dismiss.
We’re living in crazy times right now, normal rules don’t really apply and people are just trying to avoid triggering a civil war.
We are talking about a literal fascist dictator.
The person you replied to was certainly rude about it, however the frustration stems from this constant liberal attitude of playing nice, keeping the kid gloves on, letting the SyStEm handle it.
This strategy has never once worked on conservatives throughout all of recorded history.
You refuse to realize these people are playing for their right to kill you, like all this is just some difference of personal opinions.
The 30% that happily watches 30% kill the last 30% never thinks they’ll be in the 30% that stood and waited politely for their turn to die.
If you don’t want to let the system handle it, what actions are you personally taking to bring about the change you want to see?
Because the options are to try to handle this relatively peacefully through the system, or to bypass the system with violent action. The other side has been champing at the bit for decades for an excuse to turn to mass violence, so you might have some catching up to do in terms of organizing support and stockpiling supplies for the coming conflict you seem to want. If that’s the case, probably best to get yourself off Lemmy, don’t want to leave a paper trail, then go out and start hoarding guns and ammo, maybe dig a bunker somewhere.
… skipped a few steps there.
It is well within the judges right to incarcerate Trump for contempt. Now, does he refrain because he is waiting until it doesn’t risk a higher court ruling the Judge went beyond his authority and throwing out the case or is he preventing Trump from, “being perceived as a matyr”? I would guess the former. As we’ve just seen with Weinstein, judges can be held accountable if the defendant has the means to endlessly pursue litigation.
Now for Trump being seen as a martyr. Who gives a fuck. They already worship the ground he walks on (unless its the Hollywood star) and there is no point trying to appeal to his rabid base. Other than, maybe, avoiding death threats.
Doing so would give grounds to file for a mistrial if / when Trump is convicted and nobody wants that.
How would holding somebody accountable for their actions result in a mistrial?
There’s a normal pattern to how courts work and if a court deviates from that pattern it opens up another avenue for the defense to request a mistrial.
I get that everyone wants the max penalty straight off the jump when it comes to Trump but its far more important that it be done correctly in order to minimize future problems.
Is this the normal pattern? Ignore several times before issuing a fine?
Judges have discretion and discretionary authority to issue contempt, and such orders and penalties are rarely overturned. Most fines and incarceration would definitely happen with less stimulus.
It’s not fair and it does undermine equal application of justice to not treat Trump like every other petty criminal. The issue is that using every pretext available to delay the trial is Trump’s only game right now, and if you’re playing to win (Trump convicted and/or in jail prior to the election), you don’t give him any pretexts. I get it. It sucks, but it’s the rational move.
The fine is $1000, so it’s sole purpose is to be a weapon against the working class.
The system is designed to enable rich criminals to prosper.