There's an Easy Solution to The Justice System's Donald Trump Problem
Toss him in a cell. And if his corporal's guard of a legal team wants to litigate these measures, let them have at it.
If his mouth breathing devotees want to make trouble, point them towards the people now doing time for what they did on January 6.
By Charles P. Pierce PUBLISHED: AUG 22, 2023
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...aw-judges/
A curious passage from the Washington Post.
As his legal troubles have mounted, his insults and attacks have continued. He has called Smith a “deranged lunatic” who “looks like a crackhead.” He said Chutkan “obviously wants me behind bars. VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!” He accused Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D), who brought the state-level election indictment, of having an affair with a gangster. Trump’s public comments have caused consternation among law enforcement officials worried about ensuring fair trials and the security of witnesses, prosecutors and court workers.
Advisers say the Trump campaign sees a benefit in him testing boundaries by publicly attacking judges and prosecutors — either he gets away with it, or he gets to play the victim for being censored by the courts. Some of Trump’s political advisers said they are betting that judges will not risk the blowback of imposing sanctions on a major-party candidate.
The Post story examines the complications of disciplining a criminal defendant who also happens to be an ex-president* campaigning to be the next president*. It lines up some experts—well, two of them anyway—to explain the complications. Now, I am not a lawyer, nor an "expert," but it seems to me that, at this point, the complications are fairly easily solved.
Slap him down. Hard.
As we have said before, there is no such constitutional office as "Former President*." He's just another citizen jamoke, like you and me and the guy who poured you your last pint on Saturday . If you, or I, or that barman were under indictment and behaved like The Defendant has behaved toward the criminal justice system, we'd have been hauled off to the sneezer days ago. To borrow a word that seems to be all the rage these days, it's time to "normalize" the relationship between The Defendant and the institutions of the criminal justice system.
He's already pole-vaulted over and beyond the cautions and restrictions placed on him by both Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington and Judge Scott McAfee in Atlanta, as the Post makes perfectly plain. He arguably has incited threats against judges, prosecutors, and jurors. And his only defense is pure, unadulterated cynicism.
Advisers say the Trump campaign sees a benefit in him testing boundaries by publicly attacking judges and prosecutors — either he gets away with it, or he gets to play the victim for being censored by the courts. Some of Trump’s political advisers said they are betting that judges will not risk the blowback of imposing sanctions on a major-party candidate.
Let's test that theory, shall we? Toss him in a cell. Slap a GPS tracker on one of his swollen ankles and confine him to his banana farm in Florida. Drop a multimegaton fine on him every time he goes batshit on social media. Freeze his assets. Treat him like a mob boss, a drug kingpin, or the leader of a terrorist cell because, in one way or another, he is all three of those things.
If his corporal's guard of a legal team wants to litigate these measures, let them have at it. If his mouth breathing devotees want to make trouble, point them towards the hundreds of people now doing time for what they did on January 6. If he wants to test the strength of the rule of law, let the rule of law at least give him a battle without tying its hands through timidity and anticipatory dread. It's worth fighting for.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
Toss him in a cell. And if his corporal's guard of a legal team wants to litigate these measures, let them have at it.
If his mouth breathing devotees want to make trouble, point them towards the people now doing time for what they did on January 6.
By Charles P. Pierce PUBLISHED: AUG 22, 2023
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...aw-judges/
A curious passage from the Washington Post.
As his legal troubles have mounted, his insults and attacks have continued. He has called Smith a “deranged lunatic” who “looks like a crackhead.” He said Chutkan “obviously wants me behind bars. VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!” He accused Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D), who brought the state-level election indictment, of having an affair with a gangster. Trump’s public comments have caused consternation among law enforcement officials worried about ensuring fair trials and the security of witnesses, prosecutors and court workers.
Advisers say the Trump campaign sees a benefit in him testing boundaries by publicly attacking judges and prosecutors — either he gets away with it, or he gets to play the victim for being censored by the courts. Some of Trump’s political advisers said they are betting that judges will not risk the blowback of imposing sanctions on a major-party candidate.
The Post story examines the complications of disciplining a criminal defendant who also happens to be an ex-president* campaigning to be the next president*. It lines up some experts—well, two of them anyway—to explain the complications. Now, I am not a lawyer, nor an "expert," but it seems to me that, at this point, the complications are fairly easily solved.
Slap him down. Hard.
As we have said before, there is no such constitutional office as "Former President*." He's just another citizen jamoke, like you and me and the guy who poured you your last pint on Saturday . If you, or I, or that barman were under indictment and behaved like The Defendant has behaved toward the criminal justice system, we'd have been hauled off to the sneezer days ago. To borrow a word that seems to be all the rage these days, it's time to "normalize" the relationship between The Defendant and the institutions of the criminal justice system.
He's already pole-vaulted over and beyond the cautions and restrictions placed on him by both Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington and Judge Scott McAfee in Atlanta, as the Post makes perfectly plain. He arguably has incited threats against judges, prosecutors, and jurors. And his only defense is pure, unadulterated cynicism.
Advisers say the Trump campaign sees a benefit in him testing boundaries by publicly attacking judges and prosecutors — either he gets away with it, or he gets to play the victim for being censored by the courts. Some of Trump’s political advisers said they are betting that judges will not risk the blowback of imposing sanctions on a major-party candidate.
Let's test that theory, shall we? Toss him in a cell. Slap a GPS tracker on one of his swollen ankles and confine him to his banana farm in Florida. Drop a multimegaton fine on him every time he goes batshit on social media. Freeze his assets. Treat him like a mob boss, a drug kingpin, or the leader of a terrorist cell because, in one way or another, he is all three of those things.
If his corporal's guard of a legal team wants to litigate these measures, let them have at it. If his mouth breathing devotees want to make trouble, point them towards the hundreds of people now doing time for what they did on January 6. If he wants to test the strength of the rule of law, let the rule of law at least give him a battle without tying its hands through timidity and anticipatory dread. It's worth fighting for.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
