Because my sanity requires a bit of a break from social media, my thoughts are all going into my weekend blog posts.
The comments are off, but please feel free to let me know here if I made an error. I don't hire a proofreader (duh, right?)
(If you get the error message wait a minute and try again. If you have an idea for how to fix it other than using a cache plug in, which didn't work, let me know.)
One of the best things about weekends is kicking back and consuming a Teri Kanefield essay. They may not always be what you want to hear, but they never fail to contain something that you should hear.
@fizzily Also, in criminal law, there is a thing called the Rule of Leniency. You can look it up. Any ambiguity is construed in the favor of the defendant.
I assume that Bragg has actual evidence of a crime, and I assume it has to do with election interference, but so far he hasn't tipped his hand.
And no, asking if they are paying in cash is does not satisfy the heightened mens reas for FECA violations.
A jury doesn't decide the law. A jury decides the facts.
I am sure that catch and kill is not a crime. Not every thing wrong or bad or immoral is a crime. I can cheat at a card came, and you can call it "fraud" but that doesn't make it a crime.
In a catch and kill, the publisher acquires the exclusive rights to publish and then doesn't publish.
THe prosecution has not yet revealed the predicate crime. We will know more this week.
@Teri_Kanefield I assume you know what causes the site to go down (i.e. fedi hug of death).
There are ways to fix it, but they will require something more involved than a caching plugin for WordPress.
Caching is a good strategy, but the plugin will not work well enough here, as it still goes through PHP and probably hits the database. This is too slow.
You either need microcaching on your webserver, a static site, or some CDN. All have pros and cons.
A static site would require either completely moving away from WordPress — or finding a way for it to generate static version of your site whenever you publish (I don't believe it's a solved problem).
Microcaching would require directly editing your webserver's configuration. Tricky.
CDNs become gatekeepers between you and your audience. Privacy is an issue. Plus, they also go down.
@Teri_Kanefield for what it's worth, I am using a static site approach, and do not experience the fedi hug of death (but watching the logs when I post a link on here is mesmerizing).
In the past I've deployed microcaching successfully for a somewhat well known site that would get hammered with traffic and could not go static.
Personally, I stay away from CDNs, I find them too dangerous to use (in the sense of power they get over content they serve out, privacy, etc).
@Teri_Kanefield
My friend and I have a question after reading your latest weekend blog:
If Trump did what he is alleged to have done and Bragg can prove that he did it, and what Trump did is in fact a crime under New York law, then why would Trump not knowing what he did was illegal matter?
@Teri_Kanefield Just read your weekend post. I have to say, your connection between fiction and litigation writing is spot on. I wish I had made those connections to students when I was teaching middle school.
Also, I like the simple comparisons you make in order to help everyone understand a legal concept. (I just feel sorry for your kids; no way they can win an argument with you 😉)
As for the trial…. My father in law was a lawyer. He once told me that once you get into a courtroom with a jury it becomes a horse race — you never know the outcome until the verdict. My hope is that Bragg has been holding on to pertinent evidence that will show TFG’s culpability beyond a reasonable doubt.
One thing, however. How can TFG say he didn’t know what he did was illegal? After all, he’s been telling everyone who will listen (for the last 8 years) that he’s a “stable genius” and knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING including his economists, generals, and lawyers. 🤷🏼♀️
A person can be brilliant but be unfamiliar with the intricacies of complex laws.
The FECA is complex. The intricacies are common knowledge. The only reason people in 2015 might have known it was illegal to make such a payment was because John Edwards was charged with something similar.
But John Edwards was acquitted.
A person can be brilliant but not know the elements of obscure crimes.
@Teri_Kanefield Surprised not to see any reference to a fundamental point elucidated by Glenn Kirschner: that Trump suggested to Michael Cohen delaying payment to Stephanie Clifford with a view to stiffing her after the election (when any publicity would be irrelevant).
I believe there's written evidence of this. If so it it scuttles his side's claim that his actions were directed at saving his wife from public embarrassment and were therefore to influence the election.
@Teri_Kanefield I'm not a fan of his nor do I see much of his content. I got the gist of your dislike of hot take merchants and that both sides engaged in it. I hadn't interpreted that to mean that he (or anyone else) was automatically wrong and his observation seemed cogent to me--an onlooker in Europe concerned about democracy in the US (like millions of others around the world).
@Teri_Kanefield I think, w respect, that you have jumped to an unwarranted conclusion. I am not American, do not live in the US, do not watch US TV, and as far as US politics goes, don't have a dog in the (Republican v Democrat) fight.
I am simply a European citizen interested in whether democracy will survive in the US. I followed your posts here to get a measured take on current legal affairs (on democracy more generally I find Mike Tomasky worthwhile); had no intention to annoy.
I haven't been reading you for 6 months. I followed more recently but I find Mastodon happily something I can skip for extended periods and the binfire off the other coast commands most of my attention. I subscribe to WAPO (since before Bezos bought it, to help ensure it survived) and generally try to avoid clickbait media. Mastodon is the only social media platform I use.
I'll reread your last two posts which did resonate but pls don't assume global familiarity w names like GK.
@Teri_Kanefield Great article! Thanks for laying all this out in such a clear way.
The links to last week’s post appear to be for the root of the blog, so whatever is the first entry pops up you when you click (It seems that “The Mis-Information Outrage Cycle: Part 1” is currently there). It would be better to use the permalink for the specific post (which is the case when you mention last week’s post later in the post).
A (slightly off-topic) ? for you: did you follow jury selection this past week, and if so, what did you make of it?
(I ask because I was struck by how much Team Trump focused on jurors feelings re: T, and how little on how receptive they might be to T's theory of the case...)
@RufusJCooter I didn't follow closely enough to comment. Maybe they thought that the juror's feelings about Trump is what matters most. Given that people generally either love him or hate him, that could make sense right?
On the other hand, I think that it's also possible for one to hate Trump, /and/ think that it's unseemly for the state to prosecute pols once they're out of power, or think that NY state law is so byzantine & convoluted that everyone has technically broken it at least once, so this is "selective prosecution, or (etc.)
I don't think those things, mind! But if I were Team Trump, I'd have used voir dire to float some alt theories, not just ask people how they feel re:T
Yup. Makes sense. Again, I didn't follow it closely. I do know that most litigators just go on instinct. Jury selection is not scientific, despite lots of attempts to make it scientific.
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