Judge Scott McAfee Stay Cool

-


Below is an old blog 26 November 2023, where I suggested Judge Arthur Engoron should stay cool during Donald Trump's courtroom antics in the fraud civil case to determine the penalty, for defrauding New York State. Judge Scott McAfee in Georgia, is also cool and his eyes are trained on the law, not political arsonists fanning fire from wet wood.

That is what kids say, stay cool. Be steadfast. That is why Judge Engoron will do exactly that and stick to the law in Donald Trump’s fraud case, and not be distracted by his politicking harassment. Who knows? Judge Engoron might even come up with his own precedent.

If I’m not mistaken, precedents in law adapt to changing circumstances, especially in common law. The U.S. was a British colony so some strands of American law might be based on common law. Precedents are set by judges. An issue comes before a judge but it’s new, novel. For example, drug lords don’t dirty their hands. They hire professional killers to take care of ‘problems.’ If a hired assassin is caught and says a drug lord gave him the assignment to kill a competitor, who committed the murder, the assassin or the drug lord?

How a judge arrives at his judgement becomes a precedent. Attorneys and prosecutors will refer to it in future, should something similar land on their laps. Maybe this hired assassin case is not a good example because it’s criminal law.

I’m using it as an example because I don’t understand the precedent being set about gag order violation in Donald Trump’s civil case. The reasoning is that something like this has never happened before, where  the defendant is a presidential candidate. U.S. legal minds have already established that if he had been an ordinary American citizen, he would be behind bars by now, but Judge Engoron did not enforce it before Trump appealed.

If the Appeals Court rules in Trump’s favour, will that set a precedent that can be used by future Trump’s look-alikes, or even Trump himself in future gag order violations? Precedents are set by new situations, and the internet is a ‘new’ situation in this case.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Internet Manners

-
Image
The internet and mama have something in common: manners.   They believe that always say Hi! To people you meet. Home is where the heart is, but it is rough being at home these digital days.   People are so tied up in chat rooms, Instagram, Twitter, FB, YouTube or Google mania, they don’t have a minute to say hi or good night to people they share a toilet or kitchen with. Thank god for internet players.   They say hi to me when I re-open a document after a thirty minutes’ break.   It’s all automated, but it is nice when the computer calls me by my name and encourages me to continue, where I left off. The internet understands that greetings are the definitive ice breaker, before saying mum, I’m hungry or dad, can I have the car keys? Facebook has taken it to the next level because it understands that I live in a strange province where the weather is a headline story, and not what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks about the Keystone Pipeline, so Facebook reminds me of temperatu
Read more