In the usual course, a criminal defendant would not deliberately try to anger the judge in his case. It’s not that one shouldn’t expect a judge to be above personal attacks and render decisions that are correct regardless, but to the extent a defendant would want the judge to be  as sympathetic to his cause as possible, attacking the judge is not the best plan. Then again, Donald Trump is not the usual defendant.

It was an explosive claim from Donald J. Trump, just weeks before his Manhattan criminal trial is set to begin: He assailed the judge’s daughter on Wednesday, saying she had used an image of the former president behind bars as a social media profile picture.

The photo made it “completely impossible for me to get a fair trial,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He demanded that the judge, Juan M. Merchan, recuse himself.

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Easter is not my holiday, but I recognize its importance to Christians and respect their right to celebrate it in peace and with dignity. But then, others disagree.

This is exactly where they should be protesting and the exact time. Don’t let these people know peace. Keep your foot on their necks https://t.co/ASrkgx11JB

— Erica Ifill (@wickdchiq) March 31, 2024

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He must have been respected as an academic enough to have reached the position of dean of Chapman Law School, so it’s not as if John Eastman, Republican though he may be, was left with few other career options. That said, he made a choice to torch the one thing he was that set him apart from the sort of guy who makes pillows. John Eastman was a lawyer.

Eastman “made multiple patently false and misleading statements in court filings, in public remarks heard by countless Americans,” Judge Yvette Roland wrote in her 128-page ruling. These statements were “improperly aimed at casting doubt on the legitimate election results and support for the baseless claim that the presidency was stolen from his client — all while relying on his credentials as an attorney and constitutional scholar to lend credibility to his unfounded claims.”

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Good morning everyone! By the time most of you are reading this, I’ll be at Dollywood with the kids. Those roller coasters don’t ride themselves, y’know, and I got myself a good deal on Tiger Balm at Costco this week.

Anyway, it’s Good Friday according to the Christians, so why don’t we spend some time today with some sharp, pointy sticks and poke a nice, big theological bear?

If you’re not of the Christian faith, Easter is basically the Super Bowl of chocolate. Forget the game in this case; it’s all about the halftime show – Cadbury Eggs, Reese’s Bunnies, and those mysterious chocolate rabbits that multiply in your pantry. Seriously, I’ve got one that’s been breeding since 2017. I call him “Warren Buffet.” Continue reading →

Riffing off Jon Haidt’s argument that the primary culprit in the degradation of youth is the smartphone, David French takes up the cause.

Older generations reflect on the deficiencies of “kids these days,” and they find something new to blame. The latest technology and new forms of entertainment are always bewitching our children. In my time, I’ve witnessed several distinct public panics over television, video games and music. They’ve all been overblown. Continue reading →

It’s quite normal for employees of government entities to be required to watch various training videos, from sexual harassment to racial sensitivity, as a requirement of the job. To some extent, it’s a protective measure to provide a defense against liability should some claim arise later that someone acted inappropriately. The entity can point at the training video and argue, “we tried our best.” And at the same time, almost no one believes these videos accomplish anything, and some contend they make matters worse.

But DHS employees Aaron and his father Joseph Norgren claimed these videos compelled speech on their part, in violation of their rights under the First Amendment. Continue reading →

Whether it’s an epidemic or just a rare but outrageous scenario, squatters have emerged as a manifestation of what’s wrong with ‘Merica. Even if its little more than the latest hysteria, it’s worthwhile understanding how and why this happens and the squatters manage to get away with it.

A recent string of incidents in Georgia, New York and Washington has brought squatting, the practice of occupying someone else’s property without their consent, into the spotlight.

In Washington, a squatter named Sang Kim made headlines after preventing Jaskaran Singh, a landlord, from possessing his $2 million property following Kim’s refusal to pay rent for two years. Continue reading →

Her excuse was that as head of the Republican National Committee, it was her job to be a good team player and take one for the team.

After conceding that the insurrection of January 6th was “not acceptable,” there was no rigged election and Biden won “fair and square,” Ronna Romney McDaniel says she now gets to be herself and say what she believes. Does she get a free pass for the lies she intentionally spewed “for the team”? A lot of people at NBC and its lefty cousin, MSNBC, oppose her hire as an on-air commentator (at $300,000 per year). Are they wrong? Continue reading →

I’m not a collections lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV, but I’ve known enough of them to be acutely aware of the complexity and problems of getting the money awarded by the jury. Large damage awards are often reported without much comment about the fact that the plaintiff now holds a piece of paper. Converting that paper into money is a separate issue. When the defendant is covered by insurance, collections are easy. Otherwise, they can be difficult. Often, very difficult. You can’t get blood from a rock, for example.

But this is the day upon which Trump must either bond the award to the State of New York or Tish James gets to start to collect the judgment by fiat. There may be restraining notices sent to banks and other financial entities that will freeze Trump accounts. There may be an application for orders from the court to seize assets. There may be post-judgment discovery demands to ascertain assets and, in this particular case, identify the ownership of assets. It’s not at all clear that buildings with the name “Trump” on them are owned by Trump, or to what extent. Continue reading →

There has been a constant drone that what Israel is doing in Gaza is “over the top,” and Israel must do something else. But what? No one has an answer. At the New York Times, David Brooks sought to provide one. His column runs through the various alternatives and their efficacy. It’s a more important read than anything I can offer today, so I commend it to you.

One point worthy of further discussion is the role the Biden administration, pro-Palestinian protesters and others in the international community have played.

Hamas’s survival depends on support in the court of international opinion and on making this war as bloody as possible for civilians, until Israel relents.

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