President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

The facts of the case -- the evidence -- can speak for themselves.

The former USA and Assistant USA who prosecuted the case have both spoken on the case.

I have no reason to doubt that the prosecution was on the up and up, though I haven't read up on the case. Maybe someone else can convince me that it was flawed.

But, the one, single point I'm trying to make to you, that you seem to have a hard time understanding is that a defendant, agreeing to take a plea, and a reduced sentence, rather than taking a case to trial, and risking years in jail, is not, in itself, evidence of a fair prosecution.

You made what appeared to be a blanket statement that it did.

I asked you if you meant it to be such, and I don't believe you answered the question.

We know many innocent people have pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit.

 

Oh, I don't think you're shaping opinions. I just hope other Dems are coming to the same conclusion.

 

Autotrader and State Farm are out as sponsors of Samantha Bee's show.

At least ABC spared itself from the slow death of Roseanne, as advertiser after advertiser announced their decision to not advertise on the show.

Will be interesting to see if Full Frontal and TBS can put this behind them, or if they face further sponsor withdrawals.

 

I’m quite but troubled by those on this thread trumpeting this guilty plea as evidence of actual guilt. I think it’s pretty well accepted that many defendant gets pressured into pleading guilty because, among other things, prosecutors have the ability to layer on additional charges and can wield mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines against defendants. It’s one of the main criticisms lobbied against the federal criminal justice system by reformers—on both the right and left.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/11/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/

 

I was making fun of your inability to clearly make your point. Sorry you missed it.

But hey, keep trying to push that idea that being an unfunny vulgar asshole is the same thing as being a racist. It's giving us just another shining example of what type of person a Trumpist like you is willing to be in service of President Trump.

 

I'm sorry. If a guilty plea isn't evidence of guilt, what the fuck is? The court isn't supposed to know what transpired between the two sides before a plea. Are people railroaded into pleas? A hundred times a day in every court in America. Was D'Souza railroaded? Given his resources, very unlikely.

 

How is your assertion in Bold 1 consistent with your assertion in Bold 2?

 

And what you're doing here, as you often do, is talk about the larger issue instead of the particular case I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the larger issue. The larger issue doesn't matter here.
I would guess that the typical innocent person who is strong-armed into pleading guilty is not quite as privileged as D'Souza. Either he himself can afford to the best representation possible or could have found plenty of like-minded people to donate for his defense. He could have fought it and if the prosecution couldn't prove his case, been acquitted. Instead, he pleaded guilty. When he was being sentenced, he told the judge he regretted his actions and accepted responsibility for them.
After that moment, he's done nothing but bellyache about it and claim that it was the books and movies he's done about Obama that put him in the halfway house. I doubt Obama even knew or cared, who he was.
That doesn't sound like he accepted responsibility for his actions to me.

 

The only “defense” of D’Souza I’ve seen from outside the Government By Libtard Tears crowd is that he pled guilty to and served a substantial sentence for something that’s pretty common and often flies under the radar.

 

For miniature golf, of course. It's fun and, even though he can't use a cart, he can still cheat.

 

It’s not just about getting a “fair shake.” It’s about the pressure created by the sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums—because, for example, prosecutors can layer on additional charges, they can make it riskier to go to trial for the defendant. Even an otherwise innocent defendant may simply make the rational cost-benefit decision that it’s best to plead guilty. Here, he claims he was coerced because prosecutors threatened to add a redundant charge that would have added another five years. I certainly don’t know enough about the case to opine as to whether that’s a valid criticism, but it’s not one that is unheard of more generally.