" Unfounded accusations of fraud are what lawyers call “defamatory per se.” "
I really wish the targets of MAGA smears would start unloading with defamation cases. Jeffery Goldberg being the latest example, after having been called a liar and other statements of false facts, along with a slew of name calling that would go a long way to proving actual malice.
I see a lot of criticism of the legacy media in their reporting of the facts about the current administration and the hollowing out of our government from within. What I find truly unbelievable is that they keep yelling about fraud! But I have yet to see them file charges of fraud or provide a shred of evidence of Fraud. How can any of this action be allowed to proceed without such evidence?
And yet! What is the difference if nobody pays the price for their crimes? Continues to destroy everything they touch? Continues to lie thru their teeth? And have half the country supporting them? Imagine what could be done with the wasted hours and money on these law suits that go nowhere. I love Sheldon Whitehouse for his years of spotlighting the shortcomings of especially the Roberts Court but where does it end? When does the piper get paid?
Talk about weaponization of the justice system: NO ONE seems to care that over half of Americans are having their rights violently abrogated all over the country. Democrats and the media need to pay attention and speak out.
They're Arresting Us for Miscarriages Now
"The 24-year-old—found bleeding and unconscious outside her apartment complex—was charged with ‘concealing a death’ and ‘abandoning a dead body’ after placing fetal remains in the trash.
~
Georgia has no law dictating how to dispose of miscarriage remains, but police arrested her anyway. Her mugshot is already splashed across the local crime pages. Did you know that one million American women miscarry every year? I hope the cops are ready to run out of film.
~
While this young woman sat behind bars, Georgia lawmakers considered a bill that would lock up even more women: The Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 441) would charge abortion patients as murderers—a crime punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.
~
After arresting and jailing the young woman in Georgia, Tifton police subjected her to one more indignity—they sent the remains of her miscarriage for an ‘autopsy’. Even after the results showed she’d lost the pregnancy naturally, the county prosecutor stood by the charges.
~
You wouldn’t know it from looking at the headlines. From the Associated Press to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, HB 441 is being covered as a “total abortion ban” rather than a radical step toward punishing women.
~
Fertility doctors could also be jailed for life; under HB 441, discarding frozen embryos would be a criminal offense. Fertility specialist Dr. Karenne Fru asked lawmakers at a Thursday hearing, “Am I guilty of murder? That makes me a serial killer.”
~
This isn’t an issue of a single extremist state. The legislation in Georgia is one of eleven ‘equal protection’ bills that have been introduced across the country since the start of the year. All of them seek to punish women who have abortions. The rest of us, of course, remain suspect: An Idaho legislator explained to a reporter last month that his ‘equal protection’ bill would allow for the investigation of miscarriages.
~
We’re barely three years out from the end of Roe. Still think feminists are ‘hysterical’?"
And hardly a peep from the MSM, or the Contrarian. For shame. Why does the persecution of innocent Venezuelan men (however heinous that it is) rate higher media coverage than the violent subjugation of the more than half the US population that is female?? Women are being stripped of their rights and dignity as we speak.
One of the fundamental international legal definitions of a slave is a person who has no bodily autonomy, usually due to the official actions of a government. American women now have the legal status of sexual slaves and it is only going to get worse.
We need to hear from Jessica Valenti on the Contrarian. Please make that happen, Jen & Norm. If this doesn’t enrage all of us, there’s no hope after all.
One thing I know, as a retired career state prosecutor, is that this is the way to completely ruin your reputation for honesty & competence before the judiciary. & having done that, you have subtly created a disadvantage for yourself in every case you file at every level. Usually the government goes into court with an unstated presumption of credibility but once you destroy that you start each case with the court looking askance at you. & the government has the burden of proof in every case it files.
Unfortunately, these tried and tested norms and rules apply only to those who have some shame. Shaming the shameless is a futile exercise, if we no longer have a system that will mete punishment to miscreants. The entire system is quickly becoming boldly defiant and shameless.
It is not only a shame effect. Loss of credibility by a lawyer has an effect in the real world whether the prosecutor is aware of it or not. It results in his/her statements, both oral in court, & in written pleadings, being rec'd skeptically not only by the court in which s/he first made a bad impression but also by the entire bench b/c reputations get around. Judges talk to each other, have lunch together, consult each other & discuss the lawyers who appear b/4 them. So if. You have lost trust & credibility w/ one judge, you will certainly lose it w/ others you may not even have appeared before yet. Your reputation precedes you.
Having spent a lot of time in Russia, I can attest that this is standard procedure in "prosecuting" Putin's enemies like Alexei Navalny and countless others. Trump up fake charges and "try" the case before a lackey court. Russian courts hardly ever acquit, since guilt is presupposed. The even less fortunate wind up mysteriously shot on the street or in elevators, falling out of windows, or poisoned. Is that where we are headed?
" Unfounded accusations of fraud are what lawyers call “defamatory per se.” "
I really wish the targets of MAGA smears would start unloading with defamation cases. Jeffery Goldberg being the latest example, after having been called a liar and other statements of false facts, along with a slew of name calling that would go a long way to proving actual malice.
Sheldon Whitehouse for Democratic minority leader of the Senate Judiciary committee
and
Tammy Duckworth for Democratic minority leader of the Senate.
Seconded!
I see a lot of criticism of the legacy media in their reporting of the facts about the current administration and the hollowing out of our government from within. What I find truly unbelievable is that they keep yelling about fraud! But I have yet to see them file charges of fraud or provide a shred of evidence of Fraud. How can any of this action be allowed to proceed without such evidence?
Well said! I have often thought when DJT accuses someone of something it really is a confession about his own actions.
And yet! What is the difference if nobody pays the price for their crimes? Continues to destroy everything they touch? Continues to lie thru their teeth? And have half the country supporting them? Imagine what could be done with the wasted hours and money on these law suits that go nowhere. I love Sheldon Whitehouse for his years of spotlighting the shortcomings of especially the Roberts Court but where does it end? When does the piper get paid?
It needs to happen -now!
Talk about weaponization of the justice system: NO ONE seems to care that over half of Americans are having their rights violently abrogated all over the country. Democrats and the media need to pay attention and speak out.
They're Arresting Us for Miscarriages Now
"The 24-year-old—found bleeding and unconscious outside her apartment complex—was charged with ‘concealing a death’ and ‘abandoning a dead body’ after placing fetal remains in the trash.
~
Georgia has no law dictating how to dispose of miscarriage remains, but police arrested her anyway. Her mugshot is already splashed across the local crime pages. Did you know that one million American women miscarry every year? I hope the cops are ready to run out of film.
~
While this young woman sat behind bars, Georgia lawmakers considered a bill that would lock up even more women: The Prenatal Equal Protection Act (HB 441) would charge abortion patients as murderers—a crime punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.
~
After arresting and jailing the young woman in Georgia, Tifton police subjected her to one more indignity—they sent the remains of her miscarriage for an ‘autopsy’. Even after the results showed she’d lost the pregnancy naturally, the county prosecutor stood by the charges.
~
You wouldn’t know it from looking at the headlines. From the Associated Press to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, HB 441 is being covered as a “total abortion ban” rather than a radical step toward punishing women.
~
Fertility doctors could also be jailed for life; under HB 441, discarding frozen embryos would be a criminal offense. Fertility specialist Dr. Karenne Fru asked lawmakers at a Thursday hearing, “Am I guilty of murder? That makes me a serial killer.”
~
This isn’t an issue of a single extremist state. The legislation in Georgia is one of eleven ‘equal protection’ bills that have been introduced across the country since the start of the year. All of them seek to punish women who have abortions. The rest of us, of course, remain suspect: An Idaho legislator explained to a reporter last month that his ‘equal protection’ bill would allow for the investigation of miscarriages.
~
We’re barely three years out from the end of Roe. Still think feminists are ‘hysterical’?"
And hardly a peep from the MSM, or the Contrarian. For shame. Why does the persecution of innocent Venezuelan men (however heinous that it is) rate higher media coverage than the violent subjugation of the more than half the US population that is female?? Women are being stripped of their rights and dignity as we speak.
One of the fundamental international legal definitions of a slave is a person who has no bodily autonomy, usually due to the official actions of a government. American women now have the legal status of sexual slaves and it is only going to get worse.
https://jessica.substack.com/p/theyre-arresting-us-for-miscarriages?publication_id=11153&post_id=160096161&isFreemail=false&r=2q82ub&triedRedirect=true
We need to hear from Jessica Valenti on the Contrarian. Please make that happen, Jen & Norm. If this doesn’t enrage all of us, there’s no hope after all.
A welcome voice, Mr. Whitehouse. Thank you.
Wonderful article, so clearly laid out! It does make the blood boil!! Ugly, ugly work being done.
One thing I know, as a retired career state prosecutor, is that this is the way to completely ruin your reputation for honesty & competence before the judiciary. & having done that, you have subtly created a disadvantage for yourself in every case you file at every level. Usually the government goes into court with an unstated presumption of credibility but once you destroy that you start each case with the court looking askance at you. & the government has the burden of proof in every case it files.
Unfortunately, these tried and tested norms and rules apply only to those who have some shame. Shaming the shameless is a futile exercise, if we no longer have a system that will mete punishment to miscreants. The entire system is quickly becoming boldly defiant and shameless.
It is not only a shame effect. Loss of credibility by a lawyer has an effect in the real world whether the prosecutor is aware of it or not. It results in his/her statements, both oral in court, & in written pleadings, being rec'd skeptically not only by the court in which s/he first made a bad impression but also by the entire bench b/c reputations get around. Judges talk to each other, have lunch together, consult each other & discuss the lawyers who appear b/4 them. So if. You have lost trust & credibility w/ one judge, you will certainly lose it w/ others you may not even have appeared before yet. Your reputation precedes you.
Having spent a lot of time in Russia, I can attest that this is standard procedure in "prosecuting" Putin's enemies like Alexei Navalny and countless others. Trump up fake charges and "try" the case before a lackey court. Russian courts hardly ever acquit, since guilt is presupposed. The even less fortunate wind up mysteriously shot on the street or in elevators, falling out of windows, or poisoned. Is that where we are headed?