The American Justice System

I had to look up the first guy

On May 15, 2024, Harris joined a Zoom call court hearing from his phone while he was behind the wheel. Since June 2023, Michigan's "hands-free" state law makes it "illegal to manually use a cell phone or other mobile electronic devices while operating a vehicle on Michigan roads."
Presiding Judge J. Cedric Simpson straightforwardly asked the defendant, "Mr. Harris are you driving?" To which Harris replied, "Actually, I am pulling into my doctor's office," adding, "so just give me one second, I'm parking right now."
Nearly a minute later, Harris informs the court that he is stationary.
After looking through the paperwork, which includes Harris' record, Simpson says, "Okay, so maybe I don't understand something, this is for driving while license suspended?"
"That is correct, your honor," the defendant's lawyer, Washtenaw County Assistant Public Defender Natalie Pate confirmed.
"And he was just driving. And he didn't have a license," Simpson said. He appears to smile and hold back a laugh.
Moments later, Simpson shook his head in disbelief, saying, "I don't even know why he would do that. So, defendant's bond is revoked in this matter." He added that Harris must turn himself in to Michigan's Washtenaw County Jail that evening.

C'mon, man, it would've been better to be late by a few minutes than to show yourself driving with a suspended license to the goddamn judge.

Watching his lawyer and the judge trying so hard not to laugh is the funniest goddamn thing.
Also these two:
- My favorite part is right after the judge says "and he was just driving, and he didn't have a license," when you can see the realization that he just incriminated himself (further) wash over Harris' face. 🫤 😮 😬 "...oh."
- Is there a video? Preferably with Benny Hill theme song?
Apparently his license had been restored in 2022, but due to a clerical error it was still listed as suspended. That's part of the reason for the hearing.
- Incase anyone reading hasn't heard yet: the dude never had a license. He had a "suspended license" but getting that doesn't actually mean you ever had a real license. He's also renewed his ID every year. He's just never gotten his license for no good reason.
Maybe the guy just might be way too used to driving everywhere without thinking, almost like a muscle memory at this point.
Supposedly he was driving his wife to get some urgent care. I dunno what the facts are here, but yeah. Not the best look.
Think I heard about it here: https://www.wxyz.com/news/hear-from-the-man-caught-driving-during-virtual-court-hearing-for-suspended-license
- Is there a source for that? I checked a few of the more recent articles and didn't see anything.
- Where do you get that from?
- No he wasn't.
on the other hand how is one supposed to live without being able to drive in the us?
- It very much is possible, and this coming from someone who walks with a cane.
  That doesn't excuse driving with a suspended license, unless you're at the level of "Abolish driving licenses" Libertarian Party style; licenses are a basic safety precaution and suspending one is supposed to reinforce the seriousness of the offense of unsafe and illegal driving.
  You can drive in the US without livestreaming it to your judge (shocking, I know).
- It's pretty damn hard, no doubt. But that doesn't mean everyone should be able to drive by default and we should just do away with driver's licenses (or whatever you may be suggesting)
  Also, it's pretty stupidly easy to get a license here, and easier yet to keep it.
- Even if he "had" to cheat and drive, he could've chosen to be like a minute later and call from anywhere except a driver's seat of a moving vehicle.
- Live in a 15-min city?
  Push for more public transportation?
  Millions do it all the time.

I know people with a single non-violent felony and are destitute. This mother fucker has 34 and has a chance at being president. Dying empire led by bad people is exactly right.

But he can't vote anymore. Oh thank God for that!
- Felons in New York can vote as long as they're not incarcerated.
- Nah he can still vote, it's NY
I think a guilty verdict of 34 counts still only means 1 felony conviction. Plus there is still the appeal unfortunately...

- The constitution is written to protect the people from the government. Whether or not it should still be taken at face value is another conversation. The reason a felon cannot vote but can run for office is to keep legislation honest and prevent, for example a power hungry sitting president or any official, from passing laws that would be used to incarcerate the opposing candidates. It's to keep Trump from saying anyone with a last name rhyming with riden is a convicted felon and cannot run for office. It's what Putin does year in and year out.

Bruh...

His license was suspended and the hearing was to delay his reporting to jail by 4 weeks...

And he didn't show up to the courthouse like he was supposed to, then face timed in while driving...

He was already sentenced to jail, he just didn't have to report yet.

Like, the court date wasn't just for driving with a suspended license. It was for whatever caused him to already lose his license and get sent to jail.

So the judge ruled against his request for delay and ordered him to report to jail that evening.

Yeah to be real, that first guy definitely fucked up bad. I'm not gonna pretend he's some kind of poster child for anti-maga.
I'm still against carceral punishment though.
Pretty sure the hearing wasn’t about asking for an adjournment, and the public defender tried to end the hearing by asking for an adjournment because her client was a dumbass.
I assume he was there to get a summary ruling on the misdemeanor- or maybe try and convince the judge to let it be a fine or something.
Which the judge ignored, because he ain’t stupid either.
Edit- it was just a misdemeanor, unless he hurt someone while driving. So it would have been a max of 93 days and/or max of 500 bucks. Almost certainly less than that- and at least here, it’s a “pay this standard fine or you can go to jail.” (I’m not in Michigan, mind,)

Yo let this man be. He wasn't driving without a suspended license. The judge was working on false information.

https://www.wxyz.com/news/hear-from-the-man-caught-driving-during-virtual-court-hearing-for-suspended-license

Even if we ignore the whole "suspended license" part of it, he still showed up to court breaking MI law by using a cell phone while driving. Thinking he is going to avoid ridicule for this is a pipe dream.

Don't forget he was also found liable for rape.

Jesus fuck the laundry list of shit you could pin him with is endless so why the fuck would you need to make shit up? They literally did not find him liable for rape. He was found liable for sexual abuse. Why fuel the fire of misinformation when it's the fire the person you are speaking out against thrives on.

I hate Trump with a passion but I'll play devil's advocate here.

Not all felonies are equal. And I bet all of you have different feelings about different convictions. For some, bribing a pornstar to keep quiet about an affair just doesn't seem like a big thing, a morally ultra wrong thing, something that would disquality you from running for presidency of a country.

Einstein cheated on his wives and was a huge asshole. That doesn't make his accomplishments as a scientist any less valid. Should we denounce the theory of relativity because he was morally or ethically corrupt?

Let me tell you Trump's story from the eyes of a Trump supporter here: The guy had an affair long time ago and he knew that this getting public would make him look bad despite being a genuine guy with good intentions for his country. So he did what every red blooded American would do, he asked the mistress not to tell anyone. He paid her for that. He had to get that money from somewhere so he had to falsify some books.

I understand how disgusting this is, but for an average Joe this can be very well understandable and morally forgivable. You might disagree (you might also know more details and context than the average Joe) but at the end of the day everyone's moral compass is different. And affair and hush money might just not be that big of a deal in the grant scheme of things. It might not be something that big that it should keep you from voting for a candidate. He didn't murder someone! after all.

And honestly, in some way I agree: Trump did so much bad shit that he should be in prison for, but the hush money thing is just not the Big One I want to see him convicted for.

As others pointed out, convicted felons should be able to run for presidency to avoid political imprisonment of opponents. This is literally what happens in Russia all the time. You want to run for something? Either you filed some paperwork wrong and cannot run as a candidate, or you get thrown into jail because of corruption or extremism or taxes, or you get assassinated. Often one follows the other.

Apart from that, I firmly believe in rehabilitation. Fuck Trump, but I'll be damned if in a couple of years some amazing dude could not be running for president because he was thrown to jail for drugs or stealing popcorn or some other crap when he was 18. Even for major crimes. If you have served your sentence and show remorse you should be able to integrate yourself back into society with somewhat of a clean sheet. We fuck the lives over of ex felons big time and it is such a shame.

I just lost brain cells. It's campaign finance violations, not an affair. Also, the government doesn't just get one shot to convict someone. It's not "the big one" but he's still under threat for other actions he chose to take.
- It's campaign finance violations, not an affair.
  Thank you.. I blame the media for this. Every article and talking head referred to it as the "hush money case" instead of "campaign finance fraud."
Yeah, but stealing classified documents to sell to the highest bidder is pretty fucking serious, and the clown judge that he hired did everything in her power to get that trial pushed til after the election when he could hopefully throw it out as commander in chief. The fact that they pulled that shit makes me want NY to throw the book at him.
Einstein made astonishing and real contributions to science. You cannot invalidate his contributions because they’re, well…scientific. Yeah, he did some shitty things, but those things were limited to the scope of his immediate family. Not apologizing for him, just offering this for comparison.
We have to make these adjustments any time we discuss the work of some artist, scientist, or leader we place on a pedestal.
The real test is how much damage they do to others. Infidelity? Well, it sucks, but it’s not uncommon (not dismissing it, just observing the fact). Did a scientist create a wheat variety that withstands pests and drought, feeding millions, yet also create a profitable chemical that has caused widespread cancer or environmental destruction? Maybe a popular, famous and groundbreaking artist was a real piece of shit and beat his wife and kids, say maybe putting one of the kids in a wheelchair? Maybe a world leader that’s done a great number of amazing things but still dropped bombs on civilians?
Now what? Is this the price of greatness? How much do you accept or turn a blind eye to? How much real harm did they do?
As far as felonies go, there’s obviously different levels, and that’s up to the law, and FBFW the judge…as we’ve seen affluenza and being a rich POS lets you skip out on a lot of punishment thanks to judge’s biases. Our “feels” shouldn’t be what counts.
You say you “hate trump with a passion”, but:
and he knew that this getting public would make him look bad despite being a genuine guy with good intentions for his country.
Say what?
As far as “moral compasses” go, I think it’s been pretty well established that the pro-trump morality is willfully ignorant and shored up with personal prejudices and hatreds. You have to deliberately choose not to believe in many things to support trump, and that means ignoring laws, the rights for and respect of your fellow humans, science, and many other things. Believing in a Flat Earth has the same validity as supporting trump.
- I hope it was clear that the paragraph in italics was what I meant a Trump supporter would say, definitely not me. I most certainly don't regard him as a "genuine guy with good intentions for his country".
  You have to deliberately choose not to believe in many things to support trump, and that means ignoring laws, the rights for and respect of your fellow humans, science, and many other things.
  I 100% agree with you here.
The guy had an affair long time ago
My man has been having affairs almost continuously since his first marriage.
- Some say he has the best affairs I heard some people, many people, the best, people, say it.