Nice. I got contempt of court once and spent the weekend in jail. No ifs ands or buts about it. Judge wouldn’t even let me hand my house keys to my partner. Lol
What a fucking joke.
The judge doesn’t want to give Trump’s team any ammunition for an appeal. I realize it’s absurd, but if he’s thrown in jail without significant warning then they’ll argue it biased the already liberal jury (cause NYC) against him too much.
(I am not a lawyer, that’s just my understanding.)
The judge doesn’t want to give Trump’s team any ammunition for an appeal.
It’s still treating Trump different than most. If it’s such a problem to put Trump in jail, why isn’t it for any random person?
It’s still treating Trump different than most.
Of course it is.
If it’s such a problem to put Trump in jail, why isn’t it for any random person?
Because he is a former president of the United States who is currently running for re-election. This situation is unique in American history. As much as we may dislike these facts, they are true. The judge is in uncharted waters here, and needs to be careful to avoid anything that can be construed as evidence of bias against the defendant. This trial will be under scrutiny for as long as we have a country.
It’s not fair that most defendants do not have the essentially limitless resources of the entire conservative political machine at their disposal to pay for their legal woes, but it is the reality of the situation.
The judge is in uncharted waters here, and needs to be careful to avoid anything that can be construed as evidence of bias against the defendant.
And in so doing, hold a bias for the asshole.
The judge is biased on the side of Justice. Getting the case thrown out out of principle wouldn’t help anyone but Trump.
That’s bullshit and you know it.
There are established rules and procedures. When you fudge them on one side, to avoid appearing biased to the other….
That is itself bias. against your “side of justice”.
This judge is afraid of Trump; and in his fear making a mockery of justice. You know it, I know it, and Trump knows it. Even the judge knows it.
Yeah so let’s treat him the same way as anyone else so he can use that as an excuse to stop the procedure against him, that will sure show him!
Of all the cases where people want the judge to treat the accused the same way they would be treated in order to prove a point, this is probably the worst one.
And in so doing, hold a bias for the asshole.
Criminal court is intended to be biased towards the defendant. Hence the “beyond a reasonable doubt” burden of proof.
(Obviously that bias is often not upheld properly, and plenty of people are railroaded by the system into unjust convictions.)
The court itself might be, but the judge isn’t supposed to be.
They have procedures and guidelines, for everything involved here. Procedures and guidelines that aren’t supposed to take “ex president” into account.
Judges aren’t supposed to allow anyone to intimidate, threaten or otherwise manipulate the witnesses or jury.
Remember- the people of NY are one of the parties; and all parties are entitled to a fair trial.
I would make a terrible judge, because I don’t see how this is uncharted territory. Sure, it’s unprecedented, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know what to do.
Our entire government is made up of citizens, that was the whole point in fighting a war to get rid of an unjust monarchy, ruling from afar.
Trump is a citizen, if he broke the law he needs to go to jail. If he breaks the law during the trial, he should receive the same punishment as any other citizen would. Doing anything else just means we have a 2 tier justice system.
The fact that he has fucked up 10 times and is still a free man is ridiculous. All the judge has done is show trump that he can do whatever he wants and face no repercussions. If you did something 10 times, and then someone gets mad the 11th, you wouldn’t say “sorry my bad” you’d say “why are you mad, I do this all the time”
This country is a joke
The stakes are genuinely higher for the court (and the nation) than in your average trial. Gotta be careful.
I think 11 contempt charges represents 10 more “significant warnings” than anyone else would get.
I legitimate appeals court would accept trumps argument and illegitimate courts aren’t going to care and just side with Trump anyhow.
This isn’t for appeals… it’s for mass consumption; and it’s a massive miscarriage of justice.
The judge doesn’t want to give Trump’s team any ammunition for an appeal.
If you believe this shit, you’re fooling yourself. Guy’s gotten ten warnings when any off-the-street plaintiff would be lucky to get one. Not only will there be ammo for appeal, Merchan is building precedent of untouchability. My man is straight up announcing
The last thing I want to do is put you in jail.
I-fucking-magine this getting said during any other trial. How much more biased can a judge get?
Guy’s gotten ten warnings
Playing Devil’s Advocate here, but nine of those were all reviewed at the same time, and while the decision to group them all together and issue a final warning was pending, the tenth violation was committed. Technically, and this is a really big fuckin’ technically, he has not committed any violations since being put “on notice” that the monetary punishments are over and the jail time would start. They decided on one today that occurred before that decision, so they’re not holding it to the same standard.
I do believe the next violation will carry jail time, without a doubt. Trump has also mostly shut up since being put on notice as well because he doesn’t want to be put in a cell any more than you or I do.
But it is extremely, maddeningly frustrating that Trump has gotten away with it so far. The Judge’s decision today proves beyond a doubt that the law is not being equally applied in favor of Trump himself.
Honestly, I don’t know if I could be an impartial judge in this case, because knowing Trump I would have warned him the very second he stepped foot in the courtroom that he was already on notice and that he should expect jail time if even a single word escaped his mouth that is in violation of the gag order that was already in place. Maybe Judge Merchan is more magnanimous, more cool-headed, or simply too wary of the blowback from applying the law equally with a megalomaniac like Trump who has an army of idiots at his back. I don’t know. All I know is, I don’t think he’s out of line just yet, but hearing statements like “I don’t want to put you in jail” for a guy who is too rich for fines to have an impact on is not reassuring.
There are [rare few???] judges like that, no joke!
I’mma reference an internet one as a kind of source for a judge I met IRL who spent his free time helping folks avoid jail:
https://youtube.com/@CaughtInProvidence
Privacy protecting version:
without significant warning
Hitler got a slap on the wrist because the judge was sympathetic. Same story here.
Wow, he must have really learned his lesson from the last 9 telling offs.
At $1,000 a pop, paid for by his cultists, he doesn’t care.
Sort of my point.
Susan Collins has entered the chat
It was one telling off, for 9 separate tweets that the judge was made aware of. So this is his second warning.
FUCKING DO IT YOU PUSSY!
Removed by mod
“Just 15 or 20 more times, mister! I’m not kidding this time!”
You guys rip on me 13 or 14 more times and I’m out of here. ~basketball
You should be ashamed of yourselves!
Back in the driveway, we were nothing!
Now we’ve risen to the highest level, but you’re throwin’ it all away!
If you’ve forgotten what baseketball means to America, you have only to look at this board - the Malaka-Laka Balance Board of Trust.
Don’t you see what we have here?
A game where guys with bad backs and bad knees can… get together and compete on the same field as guys that are all goosed up on steroids.
But more than anything, isn’t this game about gettin’ together with your friends and just havin’ a good time?
I remember. I remember a long time ago, I didn’t have anybody.
You guys took me in. I guess that’s why it kills me to see you like this.
If we can’t be friends… then the heart and soul are out of this game. Certainly out of me. I know I’ll never get that back again.
We have sullied the waters of the Lagoon of Peace!
I’m begging you, for the love of our Caribbean brothers, dudes, stop this madness!
It’s 2 times. The first 9 violations were assessed as a block (it was 9 separate tweets). So this is only his second warning.
Given that the judge doesn’t want to get the case thrown out on appeal, two warnings is perfectly reasonable.
Look, buddy… Your reasonabilitiness is getting in the way of my pissedoffedness. Meet me back here in two weeks so one of us can say “See? I told you so!”
I’ll have to check my schedule, I think I already have an angry screaming match scheduled around that time.
Threatening him does nothing but make the judge look like a chickenshit same as the rest
“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail.”
~ Judge Juan Merchan
We love our fair and impartial judiciary, don’t we folks? Lets give Judge Merchan a big hand. He’s helping to Make America Great Again.
I wonder if he means that in the sense of “putting you in jail is only going to empower your frankly rabid base of supporters. I need to avoid even the slightest hint of a mistrial so we can put you in prison for good.”
putting you in jail is only going to empower your frankly rabid base of supporters
What does the judge think will happen should the jury returns a guilty verdict?
Then the jury will be targeted instead of the judge, so he’d prefer that.
He knows that the rabid Republicans will try to twist it to say that he was jailed to prevent him from attending his own hearing. When they would gladly teleconference him in from the cell, like they do with other criminals. But that’s not good enough for Donald Duck. Either this Jack-o’-lantern gets to sit there and look pretty or he will scream and cry a fit until election day comes around and it’s too late.
It’s all part of the nut factory’s plan.
Contempt charges are usually held in a cell in the courthouse, and they just parade you out for your trial and then put you back in the cell when it’s over. He’ll be able to do literally nothing but attend his own trial.
But if he starts acting out once they have him in cuffs, screaming about how his special mister person privileges are being violated, won’t they be putting him back in the cell?
Bok bok!
When does this raise questions of precedent? Is everyone entitled to 10 violations of a gag order in NYC now?
Wheres all those people that were telling me he’d be jailed with the next contempt charge?
That judges threats are emptier than an Donald Trumps head.
Don’t be fooled by the “10th time”. There were 9 separate violations that were all brought as a single complaint last week. So technically one “time” (as in, one ruling), just regarding 9 separate tweets so technically nine separate incidents. Number ten here is basically Donnie’s second strike in terms of actual warnings. If he gets a third without repercussions, then I think it’ll be fair to say the judge may be bluffing.
Remember, judges have to play things a little softly if they don’t want to set up precedent for appeal. He can’t give Trump any reason to claim he’s being treated unfairly. Two warnings is perfectly reasonable.
America is not a real place
50 states in a trenchcoat ran by a shadow agency doing the bidding of oligarchs.
Fucking yawn. Wake me when Agent Orange is in prison.
If the jail time is on par with the fines he gets, he should spend about five minutes in jail. That should teach him not to do it again.
It’s actually pretty likely to just be an afternoon, the first time around. Remember, this is a penalty for behaviour in court, not for the actual crimes he’s done. The point is to get him to stop acting like a little child. So yeah, odds are the judge books him for an afternoon, just so he can see how bad it is, then if he still keeps at it he starts getting week long stretches until he learns to stop attacking witnesses.
The judge seems to have a kink for holding Trump in contempt based on how ineffective the admonitions have been.
They can only fine $1000 per violation, so that’s basically useless for stopping trump. Hopefully they’ll escalate to jail time.
