A little over a week after a prosecutor in Georgia indicted former President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the results of the state’s 2020 presidential election, Republicans said they will use a new law to remove her from office.
In May, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the law that created a new commission of political appointees with the power to remove and discipline elected prosecutors over decisions or policies not to prosecute certain offenses. The law seeks to limit or restrict reform-minded prosecutors. In the case of Fulton County — which includes Atlanta — though, District Attorney Fani Willis is not even known as much of a reformer. Instead, Republican lawmakers set their sights on Willis for another reason: prosecuting the wrong person.
Sounds like obstruction of justice.
Sounds like the continuation of a coup.
Sounds like more individuals to indict with RICO charges
Is it RICO if these are all separate people committing crimes of their own accord?
I’m not a lawyer, but from the way the indictment was written it sounded like it was the mission that included you in the group, not the main person.
That’s how RICO works: you don’t have to have committed the actual crime, but if your actions materially contributed to the commission of the crime, that’s considered pretty much the same thing.
The Georgia GOP is going to get itself caught up in federal RICO charges at this rate.
I wonder how that would work.
What if the Florida GOP make a RICO reversal law?
If it’s done to perpetuate a conspiracy, maybe
I’m sure Trump’s attorney would say no.
It’s never stopped after all.
Sounds like we should be sharpening the pitchforks.
Where might one purchase ^^metaphorical tar?
(I’m good on ^^metaphorical feathers)
I’ve got a hole in my yard filled with it, I used to dump motor oil in there.
Don’t forget the feathers!
Following the old popsci article I see lol
Nah, leave them dull.
And rusted.
More pain, just how they like it… when it doesn’t affect them.
Retaliation is a crime.
Legally? No.
Obstruction is a legal charge. Since what they’re doing would be legal–since they wrote the law–it can’t be obstruction.
Lol. Bruh. She didn’t just indict him because she wanted to and for no reason, she had evidence of crimes committed by the dude and his monkeys. He was indicted by a grand jury. The “wrong person”? We are playing Mafia now? Wtf
There’s a weak fascist worshipping conservative with a tiny weener down voting you.
LOL. Tell them that downvotes and upvotes don’t mean shit here on lemmy. They can take that dystopian bullshit back to reddit.
It’s true the downvotes have a lot less power here and it’s awesome.
I think they have zero power here. You can even hide them if you want on some apps. Only thing I can think of is that they show how many people didn’t like what you said. That’s about it.
Did upvotes or downvotes ever matter on Reddit? Never did for me but maybe y’all know something I don’t
down votes take you down the chain in reddit so you can basically be downvoted to where no one would see what you wrote. If they had a brigade they could take you out of a conversation
Yea I was aware of the up/downvote ranking system they used. I guess I just didn’t care enough for it to matter to me. Thanks for the heads up regardless
I thought that people wouldn’t be able to post anymore when they hit the negative, but that was kind of a rarity. Also, people there used that shit out of spite at times.
Besides the other mentioned brigading some subs required accounts to have a certain amount of upvote karma to even post.
My instance doesn’t allow or federate downvotes lol
If I post something that ruffles loads of feathers, I’d never know unless someone challenged or opened my eyes to an alternative view… because my instance only shows me the upvotes 😅
Agreed
Yes they are. Kemp seems to have had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve to suppress voters. This “no you can’t prosecute our people” committee is no great surprise to me.
The GOP will stop at nothing to ensure they can do whatever the fuck they want. Across the board in every way they can imagine they threaten to further degrade and eventually destroy democracy. For them, Russia is a model of what they’re going for.
When does the whole second amendment kick in and people start using it to defend against authoritarian governments?
Well, you see, it’s only when the /right/ people need to use it against the /wrong/ people… /s
Because there’s not a gravy seal out there with the balls to stand up to actual, trained soldiers.
But it’s not soldiers. It’s just a bunch of greasy politicians.
We are playing Mafia now?
Were we ever not? All through world history, political parties have only ever been competing mafias of one sort or another.
We already know from Pudding Rob’s actions in Florida that these kind of laws are going to be used to:
-
Allow the executive or legislative branches to override the judiciary, thereby functionally eliminating the separation of powers
-
Override democracy by removing duly elected officials at the sole discretion of one person (Florida), or by another unelected body (Georgia)
-
Create a legal fiefdom where the executive or legislative branches can determine the outcome of judicial matters through sheer fiat by removing prosecutors who do not align with their intended outcomes, and then hand selecting those who do
Party of “Law and Order” my fucking ass…
That’s because “law and order” always meant “arrest black people”.
That’s completely unfair.
They’re happy to indiscriminately arrest brown people too.
They arrest Brown, murder Black.
Don’t forget the poors.
Coincidentally, they also like to make sure black people are poor.
Coincidentally, they also like to make sure black people are poor.
I seriously don’t understand the folks who don’t get this.
First we had slaves.
Well, they say, US slavery ended with the civil war.
Even IF it were reasonable to say that slavery ended, and therefore the ripples it sent forward in time aren’t still being felt, there are two things that are true - One: We didn’t root out those who most staunchly refused to relinquish it and enact power structures to encourage equity going forward.
Well, they say, the confederate states were physically and economically destroyed by the end of the war.
And to that I say, “Andrew Johnson.”
Two: We as a nation enacted laws and social norms that turned black folks into a permanent underclass, and have been dogwhistling about it for a century.
Well, they say, No we didn’t.
Yes, we did. Jim Crow, separate but equal, the origin of most controversial confederate monuments and statues, the very existence of Sundown Towns, and The Negro Motorist’s Green Book, the foundation of the State of Oregon, and events such as the Tulsa race massacre, are all factual details about our country.
These inflection points on our nation’s psyche persisted at least through the passage of the civil rights act, and some feel Sundown Towns exist even today. These laws and social norms influenced legislative policy, police and justice department culture, and generations of Americans both white and black people.
How one can acknowledge all that and not be impressed at the degree to which African-Americans have succeeded, and also humbled by how they have been wronged, held back, and live to this day in a system founded on excluding them is beyond me. But more importantly than that, to deny that there is still an impact seems willfully ignorant.
Sorry for the rant. I didn’t set out to write it, but there it is.
As well as LGBTQ people, and anyone else in the “out group”.
Law and order is, and was always, just another tool in their arsenal to be used against their opponents. It has never been about fairness or justice to them.
Now now, it’s more general than that. In between shooting black people, they also love to use their laws on other things they don’t like, such as other people’s abortions (not their own, mind you – that’s different), LGBT people, and immigrants (especially scary turban men).
And that governor is responsible for that law. Kemp fucked us.
They will remove her probably try get her charged and then work to have someone who will make this case go away.
If this happens and the people of Georgia or hell all of us to rise up and put stop to it.
Then might as well hand the country over to the fascist because that would have won.
This must not be allowed. But I knew the GOP would find away to protect Trump.
-
There is no honor- none whatsoever- in the Republican party.
They want power, and they will destroy any good person who stands in their way.
Disgusting.
There hasn’t been for a very, very long time.
GOP - All obstruction, all the time
Tbf, they also gaslight and project.
Oh, I’m pretty sure the P stands for projection, because they do plenty of that as well.
They can’t even start accepting complaints under this new law until next July, then it’s a complicated process with two different panels of former prosecutors/judges, a number of whom are appointed by the not-particuarly-pro-Trump governor. It’ll definitely be used to punish prosecutors for not prosecuting drug/abortion/etc crimes the way they want them to, but it’s going to be too slow + indifferent + late to affect Willis.
I’m sure the GOP will find a way to make this one happen faster. Long before Trump can be tried.
Well not under this law, anyway - if they “find a way” it would be through some totally different method.
When has the law ever stopped them?
Thank you for pointing out this context.
Can you give me some sources for this it’s not that I don’t believe you but want to read about it because it has me worried
Here’s the actual bill text:
No complaint shall be filed before July 1, 2024.
Thanks so much
I believe they signed a new law to move this forward. The original law was july. Like this is going down pronto actually.
No trial date has been set yet ( except for Chesebro ). If they can get it pushed past July, they still have a shot.
One or two people are likely to be convicted under RICO by them though which will certainly complicate things.
I guess she could support it being moved to Federal Court. A few of them have asked for that anyway.
Expected outcome from the minute the law was passed. We’ll see how far it gets…
Of course they are. I love how Trump and the GOP claim to be innoncent….yet they try and stop the prosecution. If you are innocent, just present the evidence.
Can’t really prove you didn’t do something. The trick is to not make evidence showing you did do something. The easiest way to avoid that is by not breaking the law.
criminals cover up for one another every chance they get
Obstruction of Justice
I don’t know that they have the votes to actually do this, even if one guy on a Facebook post said he wanted to.
If they did do it, the real question is how this duly elected official gets replaced. If it’s a special election I’d disagree with them doing it but at least the voters get representation. If it’s an appointment by the GovernornI think there are actual constitutional issues with the law since it denies the constituents the ability to elect their own DA…but that would also put a Republican in charge of the case so it seems plausible they would write it that way.
Ron Desantis is running like a bulldozer over Florida, I hope the federal government would step in. They seem to be trying to take a hands off approach and letting it sort out. I’m not sure that’s a great approach as we watch our states get taken over by fascists. This happened after the civil war so I guess there’s a chance we can get it back? That took a long time though.
My God we’d better vote and win 2024 like never before or this coup is never gonna stop.
Thing is, federal govt can’t just waltz in and take over state govt. That’s now how it works. And probably with good reason. Imagine if the GOP could take over at the federal level and force states like Colorado to ban abortion (which yes wouldn’t be a problem if we had codified abortion protection into law at the federal level and also hadn’t had GOP denying Obama a SCOTUS appointment ), or banning same sex marriage or myriad other things.
I know you’re right, it’s so hard to watch though. What’s supposed to happen if states ignore federal laws though?
The federal cash taps can be shut off.
Can’t the letter agencies come in and start investigating? They are part of the United States and are supposed to follow federal laws. Maybe sue them?
The only reason that this trail is even happening is that states control elections.
Thats right Georgia. Republicans have told you who to vote for if you want your independence and freedom. Michigan just recently realized this.
GOP is grasping at straws in Tennessee too, for all to see. Justin Pearson, previously censured, posts reels of every nefarious act they try. It bears watching and supporting.
This doesn’t mean that the trial can be shitcanned, does it?
If Fani Willis can’t escape this and it means she burned her career to do the right thing, somebody oughtta crowdfund a bunch of money for her so she has some cushioning.
If she’s replaced by the governor, yeah they could drop the case. I just doubt they’d be able to replace her without a court case all on it’s own. For one it sounds like an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
For one it sounds like an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
Furthest thing from a lawyer over here, but wouldn’t this require them to prosecute her criminally vs. just removing her from her job?
You’re likely right that it doesn’t apply, but I think it only needs to be something that could be consider a punishment and would be normally handled judicially. Since this would be handled by impeachment I figure it’s not. I’m far from a lawyer myself.
Looks like we’re firmly in the Decade of Weird Legal Precedents, I guess. lol
We’re also in the decade where legal precedents don’t matter anymore.
Not the trial per se, the prosecutor. Her replacement could then withdraw the case.
The does not happen until July though and, by then, there will be a shitload of evidence before the judge and jury. They will have likely convicted Chesebro and Powell by then on many of the same “participant in a criminal conspiracy” charges under the direction of Donald Trump.
So, pretty awkward to shut it down.
The article isn’t very clear, but I think it would just remove her from her position. So it probably wouldn’t ruin her career. If anything, I feel like plenty of law firms would love an experienced prosecutor who has the guts to oppose the madness that is the alt right.
Yeah that’s a fair point. I guess the second half of my response was a bit of kneejerk reaction. I was more curious about what kind of effect this could have on the Trump & Co. trial. I assume the amount of time they’d need to get started removing her pretty much guarantees nothing happens.
These asshats couldn’t be more transparent, cartoon-villanish characters if they tried. Fuck them in the neck with a screwdriver. Voting for these assholes is a vote for dismantling democracy.
