I’m going to be covering the campaign day after day between now and November. To support my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. While we were all parsing the idiocy of Judge Aileen Cannon last night, presidential primary votes were being counted in several states around the nation. Okay, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump wrapped up enough delegates to secure their nominations last week, so turnout yesterday was probably not that great. But an argument could be made that the results of primaries that don’t really matter tell us more than results of primaries that do. Once the nomination is in the bag for candidates, it’s their hard core supporters who turn out to vote in the rest of the primaries.
Now he is groveling, begging his followers for money to help pay his debts. So, Donald, which is it, you need money for your campaign or you need money for the judgments against you? I heard Susanne Craig say today that he might have an option where he is half owner of a casino in Las Vegas. If somebody could step in and pay him his half in cash, he might be able to pay by next Monday, the deadline. Personally, watching him panic and possibly end up going completely bankrupt would be absolutely delicious.
It's so ridiculous, Lady Lindsey today begging people to help out his buddy Drumpf, who is in "big trouble." And the fund raising appeal to "Save Trump Tower, send money." Of course you don't see Lindsey, or Drumpf himself risking any personal assets, they expect others to do it. Ruth Marcus was in WaPo today saying "fairness" means we should let Drumpf appeal without any bond, because its the American Way. I hope they start seizing assets on Monday and further expose this con-man for the fraud he is.
It is the American Way to let someone with a fraud judgement who is known to drag out litigation forever ignore the rules governing everyone else.? Who IS Ruth Marcus. I'm going to go check. Yikes, read her piece. She thinks he can't appeal without a bond. Not so. He can appeal, but without a bond can't stop attachment of assets.
She is being lambasted in the comments at the WaPo.
Ruth Marcus is actually a solid columnist -- not one of my top 3 but still pretty good. I thought her column made sense, and it also made clear that she's thinking primarily of fairness. The appeal process is built into the justice system, so why set such a high bar for this particular defendant? As she wrote: ". . . the current glee over Trump’s financial predicament threatens to let our Trump derangement syndrome, however understandable, override bedrock principles of fairness."
Also, about WaPo comments: I skim them and even post there from time to time. Where Trump is concerned, Trump Derangement Syndrome definitely rules. Mob mentality does occasionally take hold of the armchair politicos, and in this case the comments say more about the commenters than they do about Marcus's column.
the BAR is exactly the same as for anyone else--110% of the judgment. It is high because the the trier of fact decided that's how much was due under the statute he violated. It wasn't a surprise. Discovery had provided him with all the evidence the judge used, and he could have been planning for a worst case scenario and getting loans or liquidating selling something to allow this.
Remember the amount is based on DISGORGEMENT. It isn't just some legislatively set penalty for breaking the law. The amount is the amount he SAVED by lying about his values and thus getting a better interest rate. It simply isn't true that "no one was hurt." The lenders were out 454 million they otherwise could have made, had they known the true facts.
Maybe the judge overestimated. That's what's the appeal is for. I can see that the amount of the judgment could be reduced , though I doubt it would be overturned: this law has been used on many who defrauded in a similar way.
The main glee in this situation is the revelation that he apparently isn't worth what he says he is. After all, if he is really worth the 10 billion he claimed, the bond amount is 5% of his total wealth. I don't see how that has ANYTHING to do with trump derangement syndrome interfering with fairness. It is simply schadenfreude. THAT is not something the court should, would, or could consider when deciding on the bond amount.
James would be delighted if he could post a bond. It would make her collection, if she wins, so much easier. As it is, she will have to go through the time and expense of untangling the ownership of all trump's web of LLCs and of actually collecting--not a cheap process if she has to go after a lot of properties to get the total, and not a recoverable expense.
I am sure Marcus writes many sensible things. This isn't one of them. If the amount of the bond is the same as that required of anyone, fairness says treat him the same as everyone. He has only himself to blame for the size of the judgment.
To me it means that one is so obsessed with Trump that one loses perspective on everything else, like the Republican Party he grew out of and has largely taken over. I live in a mostly moderate-to-liberal area, and I know quite a few people who've got TDS in varying degrees. Quite a few of them didn't get involved in, or start paying all that much attention to, politics before Trump took office. TDS isn't fatal (although carried to excess it can make a person hard to work with), but it can be dangerous going forward: When Trump is finally out of the way, someone with TDS might think "Mission accomplished!" and go back to ignoring politics.
Eff the American Way! Dems have always played by the rules, for the most part. Ms. Letitia James is in charge and when DjT can’t come up with the dough, she will ride her chariot to Trump Tower and place a golden lock and chain on all of the doors.
I looked on WaPo and didn’t find Marcus comment. I looked because I was incensed to read this. If true is she working for Trump? “Fairness”for that cheating sleaze bag. My stomach is turning that anyone would support him. So glad I dumped WaPo and it will never darken my doorstep again.
If you're only in favor of fairness and equity for people of whom you approve, whose character is agreed by general consensus to be good, there are all sorts of problems involved with turning that into more than ad hoc, whimsical standards that fly out the window if the consensus turns out to be mistaken.
Root it in the rule of law, instead, and Trump's still getting getting his due, repaid in the coin he he traded in, a massive financial hit to help compensate all the direct (banks, insurance companies, real estate firms, NY taxpayers) and indirect victims (too many to list, since this massive fraud over decades fueled his political career) without worrying about how sordid and despicable he is - and as you know, Trump represents much deeper problems than just one sordid and despicable authoritarian who can be sorted out and maybe even imprisoned, and "that's the end of it."
That's what Susanna J. is getting at, I think. And it IS connected with "Trump Derangement Syndrome," even though Trump is arguably the single American political figure in our entire history whose dysfunctional talent for provoking sheer outrage is the most understandable!
Her column is under the Opinions section.She's ostensibly liberal but usually acts as an apologist for conservatives. The comments section just eviscerated her.
keep in mind that the BOND amount is not 454 or 464 million. It is 110% of that he has to come up with for cash collateral to the surety. That is 499,400,000 (for just the judgement against trump) or 510,400,000 if the bond covers the smaller judgement against the kids as well. That property, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (not a casino) seems to be worth max 110 million. Half of that ain't gonna cut it.
That was the value of unsold condos in Sept 2022, the most recent figure I could find. James accused him of inflating that amount. Remember that a lot of trump properties are condo buildings. Once the unit is sold, it isn't trump's anymore. Apparently he only now owns the service areas of trump tower in NY.
The stockholders vote on the reverse merger from that blank check firm and Trump's media thingie is set for Friday. SEC approved the merger if the shareholders vote aye. Trump' take (stock worth) estimated to be north of 3B$ although it wouldn't be available for some time.
Other than that Hail Mary his best bet is at the AG laid out, split the circa 500M needed among multiple firms etc. Way too much emphasis on finding ONE taker, fool, and his money. Suspect he will make bond by the 11th hour albeit very messy.
I'm not sure if he can post a bond AFTER the time has elapsed and then stop any execution on the judgement. But as I have said elsewhere, a bond in the full amount (from a reputable surety) is actually a GOOD deal for New York. Let someone other than the city and the surety do the messy part of collecting. It would be fun to watch the plane go bye bye, but I'd rather NY got its money
Agree, not sure iithah. However, Courts do bend over backward when big cha-ching is involved. As I mentioned the AG reminded all it needn't come from one source, as long as the sum of the pieces equal the whole. She doesn't want the headache of sorting thru all those LLCs and properties searching for actual equity etc. Would take much time with values in flux throughout. Besides Trump does have a shot of seeing the top line reduced on appeal so he is incentivized in making the bond.
All that said the pressure he is facing from the 4directions will, if not already taking its toll. It's pretty much a myth a single something brings down a person or company. It's the constant pressure in varying degrees from all directions that causes bad judgment and bad conduct. Trump is nowhere near his mental, emotional, or physical prime. Time is not his ally no matter how many times people claim he is escaping this or that. He isn't. It's there 24/7 every day.
One thought I had is that James could collect on the Trump Tower Service area, which includes the garage, and then charge the tenants enough for parking to cover the judgment 😉
I suspect trump does. But there's probably something in the sale documents or lease agreements. But it would be a delicious thing to do to all those folks who bought stuff there to curry favor or launder money.
Isn't "own" possibly a misnomer? When my house had a mortgage of 80% of its value I didn't feel like I owned it. We should know soon how much all this property he owns is leveraged.
That sound you heard was me cracking a smile at the Depraved Defendant's misfortunes. However, may I suggest you consider always using the word "detumescing" instead of "sagging" when referring to the DD's electoral prospects -- it seems to fit the DD better than his clothes.
As I was reading your piece, my mental Spotify was rewriting a couple of lines of Beethoven's setting to Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy:"
"Schadenfreude, Trumpenfunken/Glucklich aus Elysium"
Lawrence, Given the spelling of my last name and my Celtic pagan powers I am a direct descendent of Celtic Warrior Brian Boru and sometimes practicing druid (mistletoe anyone?} I like to call it Freudenshite.
The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-ríoghan in modern Irish before the spelling reform,[1] and it has been translated as "great queen" or "phantom queen".
The Morrígan is mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom, death, or victory in battle. In this role she often appears as a crow, the badb.[2] She incites warriors to battle and can help bring about victory over their enemies. The Morrígan encourages warriors to do brave deeds, strikes fear into their enemies, and is portrayed washing the bloodstained clothes of those fated to die.[3][4] She is most frequently seen as a goddess of battle and war and has also been seen as a manifestation of the earth- and sovereignty-goddess,[5][6] chiefly representing the goddess's role as guardian of the territory and its people.[7][8]
The Morrígan is often described as a trio of individuals, all sisters, called "the three Morrígna".[5][9][10] In mythology membership of the triad is given as Badb, Macha, and the Morrigan, who may be named Anand.[11] It is believed that these were all names for the same goddess.[5][12] In modern sources Nemain may also be named as one of the three Morrigan along with Badb, Macha, although her inclusion is unclear.[13] The three Morrígna are also named as sisters of the three land goddesses Ériu, Banba, and Fódla. The Morrígan is described as the envious wife of The Dagda and a shape-shifting goddess,[14] while Badb and Nemain are said to be the wives of Neit.[5] She is associated with the banshee of later folklore.[5]
Etymology
There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan's name. Mor may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror, monstrousness, cognate with the Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian mara and the Old East Slavic "mara" ("nightmare");[15] while rígan translates as "queen".[16][17] This etymological sequence can be reconstructed in the Proto-Celtic language as *Moro-rīganī-s.[18][19] Accordingly, Morrígan is often translated as "Phantom Queen".[17] This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.[20]
In the Middle Irish period, the name is often spelled Mórrígan with a lengthening diacritic over the o, seemingly intended to mean "Great Queen" (Old Irish mór, "great";[15] this would derive from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *Māra Rīganī-s).[21] Whitley Stokes believed this latter spelling was due to a false etymology popular at the time.[22] There have also been attempts by modern writers to link the Morrígan with the Welsh literary figure Morgan le Fay from the Matter of Britain, in whose name mor may derive from Welsh word for "sea", but the names are derived from different cultures and branches of the Celtic linguistic tree.[15] ***** This is a LENGTHY article, and the kind of stuff Wiki is now really doing well, too.
Oh yeah! And great to adapt for various fictional purposes, we both likely know well from viewing or know about, the already famous versions including the Lerner-Lowe Broadway musical Camelot, and Hollywood films, anything with the Arthurian / Fisher King Holy Grail and etc. mythic cycles. I'm sure there's plenty more which I have not begun to locate and read as well.
I have been working away (for too long!) at a Sherlock Holmes pastiche which revolves around a sweeping, British Isles wide bogus "spiritualist / occult" blackmail op (which targets victims including Sir Henry Irving and related figures from the era) and already added a sub-plot, where would-be client Miranda de Burgos's sister Morganna is (as he doesn't immediately realize - brother Mycroft spots it immediately, though) "echoing" themes in her back story, and current persona ,straight out of Morgan Le Fay, one of the "puzzles within the larger mystery puzzle" that is facing Holmes: how to identify and have the blackmailers brought to justice. Sounds straightforward case in that sense, until what LOOKS like "real occult phenomena" appear... **** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Irving
"In November 1882 Irving became a Freemason, being initiated into the prestigious Jerusalem Lodge No 197 in London.[4] In 1887 he became a founder member and first Treasurer of the Savage Club Lodge No 2190,[5] a Lodge associated with London's Savage Club.
He eventually took over the management of the Lyceum Theatre and brought actress Ellen Terry into partnership with him as Ophelia to his Hamlet, Lady Macbeth to his Macbeth, Portia to his Shylock, Beatrice to his Benedick, etc. Before joining the Lyceum, Terry had fled her first marriage and conceived two out-of-wedlock children with architect-designer Edward William Godwin, but regardless of how much and how often her behavior defied the strict morality expected by her Victorian audiences, she somehow remained popular. It could be said that Irving found his family in his professional company, which included his ardent supporter and manager Bram Stoker and Terry's two illegitimate children, Teddy and Edy. *****
***** LOL, Instead of "regardless" and "somehow," try "because" and "naturally"...*
Whether Irving's long, spectacularly successful relationship with leading lady Ellen Terry was romantic as well as professional has been the subject of much historical speculation. Most of their correspondence was lost or burned by her descendants.[6] According to Michael Holroyd's book about Irving and Terry, A Strange Eventful History:
Years later, when Irving was dead, Marguerite Steen asked Ellen whether she really had been Irving's lover, and she promptly answered: 'Of course I was. We were terribly in love for a while.' But at earlier periods in her life, when there were more people around to be offended, she said contradictory things.
If Emma Stone’s new film Poor Things is anything to go by, it was tricky to get the Victorians to keep their clothes on and their hands to themselves. All the same, their reputation as humourless puritans with a sideline in sadism took most of the 20th century to dislodge. Here are five of the best books that track how the Victorians gradually unravelled and learned to let loose.
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (1918)
In these four savage pen portraits, Lytton Strachey, Bloomsbury’s resident trickster, takes down the great and the good of the previous generation. Thomas Arnold, the headteacher of Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown’s Schooldays, is a priggish bore, Florence Nightingale a control freak who eats men for breakfast, General Gordon, the hero of Khartoum, drinks and “was particularly fond of boys”. Together with Cardinal Manning, this quartet of rampant narcissists extol a version of God is Good but Britain is Even Better which, Strachey suggests, had led directly to the killing fields of the first world war.
A London Girl of the 1880s by Mary Vivian Hughes (1936)
The 1930s saw a new wave of interest in the Victorian period. This memoir, though, is no exercise in slack nostalgia. Mary Vivian Hughes was part of that first generation of girls who went into school teaching as a profession, having first earned her BA. At the age of 25 she is tasked with setting up the new teacher-training department at Bedford College, Bedfordshire. This bestselling account of late-Victorian life reveals a landscape that reads as strikingly modern. Here is a world of exams, certificates, train commutes and professional women who love their autonomy but worry constantly about making financial ends meet.
The Other Victorians by Steven Marcus (1966)
At the height of the sexual revolution, Steven Marcus, a professor at Columbia University, produced a book suggesting that the Victorians could swing with the best of them. Delving deep into medical sources on taboo topics including masturbation, as well as such out-and-out pornographic texts as My Secret Life by the pseudonymous “Walter”, Marcus rewrites Victorian England as an erotic playground. Within weeks of appearing in Britain in 1966, The Other Victorians sailed past Nancy Mitford’s biography of Louis XIV, The Sun King, to top the national bestseller list. The Times described the book as “ghastly stuff” and derided Marcus as “a student of smut”. These days, the book is revered as a gamechanger.
Patris I'm listening to it right now YouTube Bobby Fuller 4 energetic and highly danceable great choice. We can only hope "breaking rocks in the hot sun...."
M.T. You may want to listen to this version, especially through the best headphones you have, or, if not really possible, LOOK OUT, this one really rocks out and does require tobe played kinda loud!!!! {COMMERCIAL at opening to skip....}
Yeah, some of the comments on the YouTube video are pretty hilarious. Like the one about seeing the Clash do this song in Toronto with fights everywhere, band personnel throwing concert goers off the stage etc, etc. All the while the Clash just kept playing.
Harry and l have been politicos for way back in 1962 in high school!
My biggest claim to fame is not our activism (civil rights, anti war, voter registration), but discouraging my husband from going into politics as a career choice.
When l see the demanding shenanigans our elected officials are subjected to, l just can’t imagine any sane person making this decision!
It doesn’t bode well for the future, but it does reflect the difference between theory and practice. Let it be known that we haven’t missed an election ( primary or regular November election), and voting is at the heart of the matter!
I hope the percentages of non-tRump voters increases by November! The courts won't save us - it's up to the voters. I am still optimistic there will be a conviction from one of the trials before the election; that should convince a few more fence-sitters that he's not fit. Unless he has a melt-down before then...
I like these kinds of figures way more than polls. The latter I no longer trust at all. What people DO when faced with a pen and ballot box is way more than what they SAY 8 months out.
I'm glad you're going to stay on it Lucien. I might have to copy this one to an email to the pinhead Aaron Blake at WaPO again, like I did two months ago when he was soliciting readers for his new "The Campaign Moment". What a crock. I think I showed you my letter to him, but I'll put it here again as incentive for other readers to whack him again. His Michigan primary article was serious outhouse butt wipe caliber.
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
Here is another metric worth evaluating. What percentage of ALL registered Republican voters turn out for these primaries where Trump wins in a walkaway? In Ohio the turnout for the GOP primaries was approximtely 20% of all registered Republicans and there is no way to measue what percentage Trump might take of the primary no shows in a general election.
My big fear remains the 3rd party protest voter which is IMHO going to come from both sides and could make this the first top of the ticket race since Bush v Gore where a third party ends up being the spoiler to pick the winner.
I continue to be amazed how many man/woman on the street interviews show discontented ciitizens willing to throw away their vote in a protest action. But, if you listen to enough of your fellow citizens opine on eledtions and what they want to see you quickly figure out they are all looking for a unicorn and most of them have little concept that anything but a binary vote is pissing theirs away.
I vote for YOU to be in charge of the “big board” I do like your analyses so much better. Steve Kornacki’s a nice kid…but you have the wisdom to dig into this far better than he.
I was in Northern Arizona for a vacation last week and was pleasantly surprised to NOT see any "visible" tRuMp support - no signs, flags, posters etc. That's thoroughly unscientific and ancedotal but still.....
Waiting for Musk to hand Donny the chump change he needs
I'm in Trumpsville, Northern AZ. In 2012 I saw more than a few totally spelled out "F___K Obama" stickers on cars and trucks. In 2020 I only saw 2 of that sort against Biden. And so far in 2024 none of that grossness about Biden. Somebody must have told them that such vulgarity was counterproductive. I see about once a week a "lets go Brandon" sticker. This passes for progress in N Arizona. I'll take it!
Yes pretty much the same here in the area of NJ we live in. In 2016 there were tRuMp and "Remember Benghazi" signs all over. Way less in 2020 and now mostly Brandon stickers but not that many. Still a few what I like to call permanent tRuMptard shrines.
BTW - Northern AZ (Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon and Grand Canyon) is spectacular!
When young couple fall in love they don't see the flawed individual that person's family and friends see. They see in each other near perfection; a glowing image - a mirage. Of course each is also on their best behaviour in order to impress the other.
Later, when commitments are made some of those pretences fall away and blinders are removed as uncertainty kicks in.
I have noticed a subtle change of tone in two people I know who were Trump supporters The illusion seems to be dissolving as the deep flaws they ignored before become more and more apparent.
Of course there will always be those who will stay loyal to the captain of the ship even as it sinks
"The insanity defense often stirs up quite a bit of debate, especially among members of the public who may not be fully aware of how courts determine whether or not a person is legally insane. It should not be surprising that “not guilty by reason of insanity” provokes such strong feelings. After all, in such cases, the accused has admitted to committing the crime but is nonetheless found not guilty because he or she lacked the mental competence to understand that what he or she was doing was wrong. Courts throughout the United States typically rely on a number of tests for determining whether the accused was legally insane when an offense was committed. Here are the four most important such tests used for determining legal insanity.
The M’Naghten Rule
The M’Naghten rule, named for Englishman Daniel M’Naghten, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1843 for murdering the Prime Minister’s secretary, is used by a majority of states and was fundamental in establishing the insanity defense. With the M’Naghten rule, a defendant is deemed to be legally insane if he or she was unaware of what he or she was doing when the offense was committed or, even if the defendant knew what he or she was doing, that defendant was incapable of understanding that what they were doing was wrong.
The “Irresistible Impulse” Test
In some cases, however, a defendant may know that his or her actions were wrong, but committed them because of an “irresistible impulse.” The “Irresistible Impulse” test is used by a number of states in combination with the M’Naghten rule. With the “Irresistible Impulse” test, the focus is on volition. Essentially, the test allows for a defendant to be found not guilty by reason of insanity if his or her mental illness meant that, although recognizing the wrongness of the offense, he or she was compelled to commit the offense anyway.
Tests Used for Determining Legal Insanity
What’s the difference between the insanity plea and incompetency?
The Durham Rule
Today used only in New Hampshire, the Durham rule places a great deal of emphasis on scientific psychological evaluations and evidence. In most cases, juries follow the diagnoses made by trained professionals in determining whether the accused is guilty. This test has largely fallen out of favor, however, since it takes much of the decision-making abilities out of the jury and places it in the hands of psychologists (who, sometimes, may even disagree among themselves about a defendant’s insanity).
The Model Penal Code
The Model Penal Code is an updated definition of the insanity defense and addresses some of the weaknesses of the above tests. The Model Penal Code tends to be much broader than the relatively rigid M’Naghten rule, but also incorporates the centrality of the defendant’s volition that is addressed by the “Irresistible Impulse” test. As such, it is usually used by states that do not use the M’Naghten rule. The Model Penal Code also prohibits psychopaths and sociopaths from using the insanity defense.
The four tests described above are the most important ones for helping a court determine a defendant’s claim that he or she was legally insane when an offense was committed. While the insanity defense has long been controversial, these tests help ensure that criminal justice remains fair even in cases involving severe mental illness."
Thank you, Lucian, for the promise of (near) daily reporting on these critical elections. I can't watch the news anymore and appreciate your synthesizing it so we don't have to.
Screwed up judge's name in first graf: CANNON, not Carroll. No excuses.
None needed.
If any name like that - "Cannon" - is as linked to Trump's over the last five years or so it IS "E. Jean Carroll," though!
All those pesky double consonants are easily confused.
It happens as we age Lucian, no worries, those of us that are paying attention caught it right away, those that aren’t weren’t reading it anyhow 🙏
Not to worry. I just wanted to point it out to you. My fingers have a mind of their own.
Now he is groveling, begging his followers for money to help pay his debts. So, Donald, which is it, you need money for your campaign or you need money for the judgments against you? I heard Susanne Craig say today that he might have an option where he is half owner of a casino in Las Vegas. If somebody could step in and pay him his half in cash, he might be able to pay by next Monday, the deadline. Personally, watching him panic and possibly end up going completely bankrupt would be absolutely delicious.
It's so ridiculous, Lady Lindsey today begging people to help out his buddy Drumpf, who is in "big trouble." And the fund raising appeal to "Save Trump Tower, send money." Of course you don't see Lindsey, or Drumpf himself risking any personal assets, they expect others to do it. Ruth Marcus was in WaPo today saying "fairness" means we should let Drumpf appeal without any bond, because its the American Way. I hope they start seizing assets on Monday and further expose this con-man for the fraud he is.
It is the American Way to let someone with a fraud judgement who is known to drag out litigation forever ignore the rules governing everyone else.? Who IS Ruth Marcus. I'm going to go check. Yikes, read her piece. She thinks he can't appeal without a bond. Not so. He can appeal, but without a bond can't stop attachment of assets.
She is being lambasted in the comments at the WaPo.
Ruth Marcus is actually a solid columnist -- not one of my top 3 but still pretty good. I thought her column made sense, and it also made clear that she's thinking primarily of fairness. The appeal process is built into the justice system, so why set such a high bar for this particular defendant? As she wrote: ". . . the current glee over Trump’s financial predicament threatens to let our Trump derangement syndrome, however understandable, override bedrock principles of fairness."
Also, about WaPo comments: I skim them and even post there from time to time. Where Trump is concerned, Trump Derangement Syndrome definitely rules. Mob mentality does occasionally take hold of the armchair politicos, and in this case the comments say more about the commenters than they do about Marcus's column.
the BAR is exactly the same as for anyone else--110% of the judgment. It is high because the the trier of fact decided that's how much was due under the statute he violated. It wasn't a surprise. Discovery had provided him with all the evidence the judge used, and he could have been planning for a worst case scenario and getting loans or liquidating selling something to allow this.
Remember the amount is based on DISGORGEMENT. It isn't just some legislatively set penalty for breaking the law. The amount is the amount he SAVED by lying about his values and thus getting a better interest rate. It simply isn't true that "no one was hurt." The lenders were out 454 million they otherwise could have made, had they known the true facts.
Maybe the judge overestimated. That's what's the appeal is for. I can see that the amount of the judgment could be reduced , though I doubt it would be overturned: this law has been used on many who defrauded in a similar way.
The main glee in this situation is the revelation that he apparently isn't worth what he says he is. After all, if he is really worth the 10 billion he claimed, the bond amount is 5% of his total wealth. I don't see how that has ANYTHING to do with trump derangement syndrome interfering with fairness. It is simply schadenfreude. THAT is not something the court should, would, or could consider when deciding on the bond amount.
James would be delighted if he could post a bond. It would make her collection, if she wins, so much easier. As it is, she will have to go through the time and expense of untangling the ownership of all trump's web of LLCs and of actually collecting--not a cheap process if she has to go after a lot of properties to get the total, and not a recoverable expense.
I am sure Marcus writes many sensible things. This isn't one of them. If the amount of the bond is the same as that required of anyone, fairness says treat him the same as everyone. He has only himself to blame for the size of the judgment.
I've heard this expression hurled from the Right. What is "Trump Derangement Syndrome"?
To me it means that one is so obsessed with Trump that one loses perspective on everything else, like the Republican Party he grew out of and has largely taken over. I live in a mostly moderate-to-liberal area, and I know quite a few people who've got TDS in varying degrees. Quite a few of them didn't get involved in, or start paying all that much attention to, politics before Trump took office. TDS isn't fatal (although carried to excess it can make a person hard to work with), but it can be dangerous going forward: When Trump is finally out of the way, someone with TDS might think "Mission accomplished!" and go back to ignoring politics.
Exactly!
Oh, hearing that makes me happier! So glad I gave up my WaPo subscription.
Eff the American Way! Dems have always played by the rules, for the most part. Ms. Letitia James is in charge and when DjT can’t come up with the dough, she will ride her chariot to Trump Tower and place a golden lock and chain on all of the doors.
I looked on WaPo and didn’t find Marcus comment. I looked because I was incensed to read this. If true is she working for Trump? “Fairness”for that cheating sleaze bag. My stomach is turning that anyone would support him. So glad I dumped WaPo and it will never darken my doorstep again.
If you're only in favor of fairness and equity for people of whom you approve, whose character is agreed by general consensus to be good, there are all sorts of problems involved with turning that into more than ad hoc, whimsical standards that fly out the window if the consensus turns out to be mistaken.
Root it in the rule of law, instead, and Trump's still getting getting his due, repaid in the coin he he traded in, a massive financial hit to help compensate all the direct (banks, insurance companies, real estate firms, NY taxpayers) and indirect victims (too many to list, since this massive fraud over decades fueled his political career) without worrying about how sordid and despicable he is - and as you know, Trump represents much deeper problems than just one sordid and despicable authoritarian who can be sorted out and maybe even imprisoned, and "that's the end of it."
That's what Susanna J. is getting at, I think. And it IS connected with "Trump Derangement Syndrome," even though Trump is arguably the single American political figure in our entire history whose dysfunctional talent for provoking sheer outrage is the most understandable!
Her column is under the Opinions section.She's ostensibly liberal but usually acts as an apologist for conservatives. The comments section just eviscerated her.
Ruth Marcus said WHAT???? Checking the Bezos Shopper as soon as I finish here.
keep in mind that the BOND amount is not 454 or 464 million. It is 110% of that he has to come up with for cash collateral to the surety. That is 499,400,000 (for just the judgement against trump) or 510,400,000 if the bond covers the smaller judgement against the kids as well. That property, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (not a casino) seems to be worth max 110 million. Half of that ain't gonna cut it.
That was the value of unsold condos in Sept 2022, the most recent figure I could find. James accused him of inflating that amount. Remember that a lot of trump properties are condo buildings. Once the unit is sold, it isn't trump's anymore. Apparently he only now owns the service areas of trump tower in NY.
The stockholders vote on the reverse merger from that blank check firm and Trump's media thingie is set for Friday. SEC approved the merger if the shareholders vote aye. Trump' take (stock worth) estimated to be north of 3B$ although it wouldn't be available for some time.
Other than that Hail Mary his best bet is at the AG laid out, split the circa 500M needed among multiple firms etc. Way too much emphasis on finding ONE taker, fool, and his money. Suspect he will make bond by the 11th hour albeit very messy.
I'm not sure if he can post a bond AFTER the time has elapsed and then stop any execution on the judgement. But as I have said elsewhere, a bond in the full amount (from a reputable surety) is actually a GOOD deal for New York. Let someone other than the city and the surety do the messy part of collecting. It would be fun to watch the plane go bye bye, but I'd rather NY got its money
Same goes for E Jean.
Isn't there some lawsuit involving that merger?
Agree, not sure iithah. However, Courts do bend over backward when big cha-ching is involved. As I mentioned the AG reminded all it needn't come from one source, as long as the sum of the pieces equal the whole. She doesn't want the headache of sorting thru all those LLCs and properties searching for actual equity etc. Would take much time with values in flux throughout. Besides Trump does have a shot of seeing the top line reduced on appeal so he is incentivized in making the bond.
All that said the pressure he is facing from the 4directions will, if not already taking its toll. It's pretty much a myth a single something brings down a person or company. It's the constant pressure in varying degrees from all directions that causes bad judgment and bad conduct. Trump is nowhere near his mental, emotional, or physical prime. Time is not his ally no matter how many times people claim he is escaping this or that. He isn't. It's there 24/7 every day.
I am sure she would MUCH prefer a bond. But not a "bit o' bond"
<dead> and touche
Well, that info makes me pretty happy!
One thought I had is that James could collect on the Trump Tower Service area, which includes the garage, and then charge the tenants enough for parking to cover the judgment 😉
Can she mess with tenants like that? 🤩
I suspect trump does. But there's probably something in the sale documents or lease agreements. But it would be a delicious thing to do to all those folks who bought stuff there to curry favor or launder money.
Isn't "own" possibly a misnomer? When my house had a mortgage of 80% of its value I didn't feel like I owned it. We should know soon how much all this property he owns is leveraged.
Oh yes. "Owned" means simply having your name on title. How much the thing is WORTH is a matter of its market value less what you owe.
Nevada wouldn’t let him have a casino license due to his questionable mob ties, he owns a tacky hotel that’s all
Then he can get the $half billion from the mob. His crazed supporters would think he was ‘smart.’
KetsupontheWALL delicious.
That sound you heard was me cracking a smile at the Depraved Defendant's misfortunes. However, may I suggest you consider always using the word "detumescing" instead of "sagging" when referring to the DD's electoral prospects -- it seems to fit the DD better than his clothes.
As I was reading your piece, my mental Spotify was rewriting a couple of lines of Beethoven's setting to Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy:"
"Schadenfreude, Trumpenfunken/Glucklich aus Elysium"
Lawrence, Given the spelling of my last name and my Celtic pagan powers I am a direct descendent of Celtic Warrior Brian Boru and sometimes practicing druid (mistletoe anyone?} I like to call it Freudenshite.
Freudenshite and Trumpenfuckin --- same songbook.
LOL, and I am looking for Morgan / Morgana, Morrigan to execute a stunning coup de maistre as Trump exits, pursued by a bear!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morr%C3%ADgan
The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-ríoghan in modern Irish before the spelling reform,[1] and it has been translated as "great queen" or "phantom queen".
The Morrígan is mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom, death, or victory in battle. In this role she often appears as a crow, the badb.[2] She incites warriors to battle and can help bring about victory over their enemies. The Morrígan encourages warriors to do brave deeds, strikes fear into their enemies, and is portrayed washing the bloodstained clothes of those fated to die.[3][4] She is most frequently seen as a goddess of battle and war and has also been seen as a manifestation of the earth- and sovereignty-goddess,[5][6] chiefly representing the goddess's role as guardian of the territory and its people.[7][8]
The Morrígan is often described as a trio of individuals, all sisters, called "the three Morrígna".[5][9][10] In mythology membership of the triad is given as Badb, Macha, and the Morrigan, who may be named Anand.[11] It is believed that these were all names for the same goddess.[5][12] In modern sources Nemain may also be named as one of the three Morrigan along with Badb, Macha, although her inclusion is unclear.[13] The three Morrígna are also named as sisters of the three land goddesses Ériu, Banba, and Fódla. The Morrígan is described as the envious wife of The Dagda and a shape-shifting goddess,[14] while Badb and Nemain are said to be the wives of Neit.[5] She is associated with the banshee of later folklore.[5]
Etymology
There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan's name. Mor may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror, monstrousness, cognate with the Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word "nightmare") and the Scandinavian mara and the Old East Slavic "mara" ("nightmare");[15] while rígan translates as "queen".[16][17] This etymological sequence can be reconstructed in the Proto-Celtic language as *Moro-rīganī-s.[18][19] Accordingly, Morrígan is often translated as "Phantom Queen".[17] This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.[20]
In the Middle Irish period, the name is often spelled Mórrígan with a lengthening diacritic over the o, seemingly intended to mean "Great Queen" (Old Irish mór, "great";[15] this would derive from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *Māra Rīganī-s).[21] Whitley Stokes believed this latter spelling was due to a false etymology popular at the time.[22] There have also been attempts by modern writers to link the Morrígan with the Welsh literary figure Morgan le Fay from the Matter of Britain, in whose name mor may derive from Welsh word for "sea", but the names are derived from different cultures and branches of the Celtic linguistic tree.[15] ***** This is a LENGTHY article, and the kind of stuff Wiki is now really doing well, too.
Morgan Le Fay, quite a character!
Oh yeah! And great to adapt for various fictional purposes, we both likely know well from viewing or know about, the already famous versions including the Lerner-Lowe Broadway musical Camelot, and Hollywood films, anything with the Arthurian / Fisher King Holy Grail and etc. mythic cycles. I'm sure there's plenty more which I have not begun to locate and read as well.
I have been working away (for too long!) at a Sherlock Holmes pastiche which revolves around a sweeping, British Isles wide bogus "spiritualist / occult" blackmail op (which targets victims including Sir Henry Irving and related figures from the era) and already added a sub-plot, where would-be client Miranda de Burgos's sister Morganna is (as he doesn't immediately realize - brother Mycroft spots it immediately, though) "echoing" themes in her back story, and current persona ,straight out of Morgan Le Fay, one of the "puzzles within the larger mystery puzzle" that is facing Holmes: how to identify and have the blackmailers brought to justice. Sounds straightforward case in that sense, until what LOOKS like "real occult phenomena" appear... **** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Irving
"In November 1882 Irving became a Freemason, being initiated into the prestigious Jerusalem Lodge No 197 in London.[4] In 1887 he became a founder member and first Treasurer of the Savage Club Lodge No 2190,[5] a Lodge associated with London's Savage Club.
He eventually took over the management of the Lyceum Theatre and brought actress Ellen Terry into partnership with him as Ophelia to his Hamlet, Lady Macbeth to his Macbeth, Portia to his Shylock, Beatrice to his Benedick, etc. Before joining the Lyceum, Terry had fled her first marriage and conceived two out-of-wedlock children with architect-designer Edward William Godwin, but regardless of how much and how often her behavior defied the strict morality expected by her Victorian audiences, she somehow remained popular. It could be said that Irving found his family in his professional company, which included his ardent supporter and manager Bram Stoker and Terry's two illegitimate children, Teddy and Edy. *****
***** LOL, Instead of "regardless" and "somehow," try "because" and "naturally"...*
Whether Irving's long, spectacularly successful relationship with leading lady Ellen Terry was romantic as well as professional has been the subject of much historical speculation. Most of their correspondence was lost or burned by her descendants.[6] According to Michael Holroyd's book about Irving and Terry, A Strange Eventful History:
Years later, when Irving was dead, Marguerite Steen asked Ellen whether she really had been Irving's lover, and she promptly answered: 'Of course I was. We were terribly in love for a while.' But at earlier periods in her life, when there were more people around to be offended, she said contradictory things.
*https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/21/five-of-the-best-books-about-the-victorians
If Emma Stone’s new film Poor Things is anything to go by, it was tricky to get the Victorians to keep their clothes on and their hands to themselves. All the same, their reputation as humourless puritans with a sideline in sadism took most of the 20th century to dislodge. Here are five of the best books that track how the Victorians gradually unravelled and learned to let loose.
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (1918)
In these four savage pen portraits, Lytton Strachey, Bloomsbury’s resident trickster, takes down the great and the good of the previous generation. Thomas Arnold, the headteacher of Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown’s Schooldays, is a priggish bore, Florence Nightingale a control freak who eats men for breakfast, General Gordon, the hero of Khartoum, drinks and “was particularly fond of boys”. Together with Cardinal Manning, this quartet of rampant narcissists extol a version of God is Good but Britain is Even Better which, Strachey suggests, had led directly to the killing fields of the first world war.
A London Girl of the 1880s by Mary Vivian Hughes (1936)
The 1930s saw a new wave of interest in the Victorian period. This memoir, though, is no exercise in slack nostalgia. Mary Vivian Hughes was part of that first generation of girls who went into school teaching as a profession, having first earned her BA. At the age of 25 she is tasked with setting up the new teacher-training department at Bedford College, Bedfordshire. This bestselling account of late-Victorian life reveals a landscape that reads as strikingly modern. Here is a world of exams, certificates, train commutes and professional women who love their autonomy but worry constantly about making financial ends meet.
The Other Victorians by Steven Marcus (1966)
At the height of the sexual revolution, Steven Marcus, a professor at Columbia University, produced a book suggesting that the Victorians could swing with the best of them. Delving deep into medical sources on taboo topics including masturbation, as well as such out-and-out pornographic texts as My Secret Life by the pseudonymous “Walter”, Marcus rewrites Victorian England as an erotic playground. Within weeks of appearing in Britain in 1966, The Other Victorians sailed past Nancy Mitford’s biography of Louis XIV, The Sun King, to top the national bestseller list. The Times described the book as “ghastly stuff” and derided Marcus as “a student of smut”. These days, the book is revered as a gamechanger.
*****
Yeah thanks I'm aware. Interesting stuff at Celtic Art Studio.com
😄😆
The band is playing on.. what’s the song though? ‘I fought the law and the law won’ is my first guess…
Patris I'm listening to it right now YouTube Bobby Fuller 4 energetic and highly danceable great choice. We can only hope "breaking rocks in the hot sun...."
Ha! Yes!
HEADPHONES! If possible.... {Might or might not have 5 second commercial to skip at opening}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL8chWFuM-s
The Clash - I Fought the Law (Official Video)
Always have and always will love iconoclasts.
M.T. You may want to listen to this version, especially through the best headphones you have, or, if not really possible, LOOK OUT, this one really rocks out and does require tobe played kinda loud!!!! {COMMERCIAL at opening to skip....}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL8chWFuM-s
The Clash - I Fought the Law (Official Video)
Lyrics
Breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I needed money 'cause I had none
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I left my baby and it feels so bad
Guess my race is run
She's the best girl that I ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the
Robbin' people with a six-gun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I lost my girl and I lost my fun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I left my baby and it feels so bad
Guess my race is run
She's the best girl that I ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won {Repeat to ending}
Yeah I watched that this morning. Do a deep dive on the songs writer Sonny Curtis.
“In the gravel yard/with a number to my name/making little rocks out of big rocks all day….”
This was the one I was thinking of - but must say the version by The Clash was pretty great too.
Yeah, some of the comments on the YouTube video are pretty hilarious. Like the one about seeing the Clash do this song in Toronto with fights everywhere, band personnel throwing concert goers off the stage etc, etc. All the while the Clash just kept playing.
The energy is the thing. Insane. The range and number of these bands is amazing to me.
The earworm in me-brain is:
No More, No More (I Can't Stand It)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4_nEgRysWc
The male is a blond German like Trump
The female is all wimmin in America as well as the world
Even the vid could be viewed as Trump's family history if stretched enuff.
Mini film! I see where the analogies would be drawn. Never saw this before.
Yes, many analogies to be made in that vid/lyrics.
Would be remiss of me as well as bad form not to include Putin in the (re)mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uw_czggrtk
Harry and l have been politicos for way back in 1962 in high school!
My biggest claim to fame is not our activism (civil rights, anti war, voter registration), but discouraging my husband from going into politics as a career choice.
When l see the demanding shenanigans our elected officials are subjected to, l just can’t imagine any sane person making this decision!
It doesn’t bode well for the future, but it does reflect the difference between theory and practice. Let it be known that we haven’t missed an election ( primary or regular November election), and voting is at the heart of the matter!
~Respect~
The scariest part about being a Democratic elected official today is the death threats from the Dumpster’s crazed supporters.
I hope the percentages of non-tRump voters increases by November! The courts won't save us - it's up to the voters. I am still optimistic there will be a conviction from one of the trials before the election; that should convince a few more fence-sitters that he's not fit. Unless he has a melt-down before then...
Or a diaper blow out 🤷♂️
Damn, had to get out my magnifying glass the diaper blowout emoji is too small.
I like these kinds of figures way more than polls. The latter I no longer trust at all. What people DO when faced with a pen and ballot box is way more than what they SAY 8 months out.
Long live the resistance
I'm glad you're going to stay on it Lucien. I might have to copy this one to an email to the pinhead Aaron Blake at WaPO again, like I did two months ago when he was soliciting readers for his new "The Campaign Moment". What a crock. I think I showed you my letter to him, but I'll put it here again as incentive for other readers to whack him again. His Michigan primary article was serious outhouse butt wipe caliber.
Thu, Jan 4, 1:41 PM
to aaron.blake@washpost.com
Excuse me sir,
But why has it taken the Post so long to even mention the Fascist rhetoric, let alone the danger to our Constitution posed by Trump's backers and planners? This IS the NEWS, not partisanship.
This is THE number one issue of the 2024 election, because if Trump or a Republican wins, it will be our last election. They have told us clearly. Project 2025. Read it. Operation 47. Read it.
Only Trump loyalists in Civil Service and DOJ. Round us up. If someone says they are a Fascist, believe them. Your collective MSM silence is deafening.
Does this matter to you at all? I, and every loyal citizen of our Nation deserves a clear and honest answer from you and the WaPo management. This is not a horse race. What is at stake is all that matters, and our essential freedom and life itself is at stake, as well as your precious Freedom of the Press.
Do you understand?
This IS the Campaign Moment and the moment is NOW!!!
Ransom W. Rideout Jr.
CA, 91001. a paid subscriber
Tried to like twice substack wouldn't let me.
Here is another metric worth evaluating. What percentage of ALL registered Republican voters turn out for these primaries where Trump wins in a walkaway? In Ohio the turnout for the GOP primaries was approximtely 20% of all registered Republicans and there is no way to measue what percentage Trump might take of the primary no shows in a general election.
My big fear remains the 3rd party protest voter which is IMHO going to come from both sides and could make this the first top of the ticket race since Bush v Gore where a third party ends up being the spoiler to pick the winner.
I continue to be amazed how many man/woman on the street interviews show discontented ciitizens willing to throw away their vote in a protest action. But, if you listen to enough of your fellow citizens opine on eledtions and what they want to see you quickly figure out they are all looking for a unicorn and most of them have little concept that anything but a binary vote is pissing theirs away.
I vote for YOU to be in charge of the “big board” I do like your analyses so much better. Steve Kornacki’s a nice kid…but you have the wisdom to dig into this far better than he.
I was in Northern Arizona for a vacation last week and was pleasantly surprised to NOT see any "visible" tRuMp support - no signs, flags, posters etc. That's thoroughly unscientific and ancedotal but still.....
Waiting for Musk to hand Donny the chump change he needs
I'm in Trumpsville, Northern AZ. In 2012 I saw more than a few totally spelled out "F___K Obama" stickers on cars and trucks. In 2020 I only saw 2 of that sort against Biden. And so far in 2024 none of that grossness about Biden. Somebody must have told them that such vulgarity was counterproductive. I see about once a week a "lets go Brandon" sticker. This passes for progress in N Arizona. I'll take it!
Yes pretty much the same here in the area of NJ we live in. In 2016 there were tRuMp and "Remember Benghazi" signs all over. Way less in 2020 and now mostly Brandon stickers but not that many. Still a few what I like to call permanent tRuMptard shrines.
BTW - Northern AZ (Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon and Grand Canyon) is spectacular!
When young couple fall in love they don't see the flawed individual that person's family and friends see. They see in each other near perfection; a glowing image - a mirage. Of course each is also on their best behaviour in order to impress the other.
Later, when commitments are made some of those pretences fall away and blinders are removed as uncertainty kicks in.
I have noticed a subtle change of tone in two people I know who were Trump supporters The illusion seems to be dissolving as the deep flaws they ignored before become more and more apparent.
Of course there will always be those who will stay loyal to the captain of the ship even as it sinks
He is a nut case and criminal who belongs in an asylum for the criminally insane.
What's interesting and/or simultaneously appalling beyond words is that Trump likely meets the criteria for the main legal insanity pleas:
https://thelawdictionary.org/article/four-tests-used-determining-legal-insanity/
"The insanity defense often stirs up quite a bit of debate, especially among members of the public who may not be fully aware of how courts determine whether or not a person is legally insane. It should not be surprising that “not guilty by reason of insanity” provokes such strong feelings. After all, in such cases, the accused has admitted to committing the crime but is nonetheless found not guilty because he or she lacked the mental competence to understand that what he or she was doing was wrong. Courts throughout the United States typically rely on a number of tests for determining whether the accused was legally insane when an offense was committed. Here are the four most important such tests used for determining legal insanity.
The M’Naghten Rule
The M’Naghten rule, named for Englishman Daniel M’Naghten, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1843 for murdering the Prime Minister’s secretary, is used by a majority of states and was fundamental in establishing the insanity defense. With the M’Naghten rule, a defendant is deemed to be legally insane if he or she was unaware of what he or she was doing when the offense was committed or, even if the defendant knew what he or she was doing, that defendant was incapable of understanding that what they were doing was wrong.
The “Irresistible Impulse” Test
In some cases, however, a defendant may know that his or her actions were wrong, but committed them because of an “irresistible impulse.” The “Irresistible Impulse” test is used by a number of states in combination with the M’Naghten rule. With the “Irresistible Impulse” test, the focus is on volition. Essentially, the test allows for a defendant to be found not guilty by reason of insanity if his or her mental illness meant that, although recognizing the wrongness of the offense, he or she was compelled to commit the offense anyway.
Tests Used for Determining Legal Insanity
What’s the difference between the insanity plea and incompetency?
The Durham Rule
Today used only in New Hampshire, the Durham rule places a great deal of emphasis on scientific psychological evaluations and evidence. In most cases, juries follow the diagnoses made by trained professionals in determining whether the accused is guilty. This test has largely fallen out of favor, however, since it takes much of the decision-making abilities out of the jury and places it in the hands of psychologists (who, sometimes, may even disagree among themselves about a defendant’s insanity).
The Model Penal Code
The Model Penal Code is an updated definition of the insanity defense and addresses some of the weaknesses of the above tests. The Model Penal Code tends to be much broader than the relatively rigid M’Naghten rule, but also incorporates the centrality of the defendant’s volition that is addressed by the “Irresistible Impulse” test. As such, it is usually used by states that do not use the M’Naghten rule. The Model Penal Code also prohibits psychopaths and sociopaths from using the insanity defense.
The four tests described above are the most important ones for helping a court determine a defendant’s claim that he or she was legally insane when an offense was committed. While the insanity defense has long been controversial, these tests help ensure that criminal justice remains fair even in cases involving severe mental illness."
Thank you, Lucian, for the promise of (near) daily reporting on these critical elections. I can't watch the news anymore and appreciate your synthesizing it so we don't have to.
New York Times, ain't happening.