politics @lemmy.world DevCat @lemmy.world 10 mo. ago

A federal judge has gone to great lengths to make clear Trump really did rape E. Jean Carroll

www.motherjones.com A federal judge has gone to great lengths to make clear Trump really did rape E. Jean Carroll

Why state-level legal minutiae impacts what words are used to describe the former president's criminal conduct.

District Judge Lewis Kaplan has said it multiple times: Donald Trump raped E. Jean Carroll in 1996. Kaplan wrote it in May 2023, when he presided over one of the trials against Trump. And he reminded jurors of the rape this week, during the latest proceedings in the multi-layered, winding rape and defamation cases brought against Trump by Carroll.

71 comments

Did she call him the rapist Donald J Trump? The same Donald Trump who raped E Jean Carroll? The woman who was raped by Donald Trump? The same rapist who also raped his wife? The same rapist Donald J Trump who described sexually assaulting woman on a radio show? The same rapist who spied on nude underage girls at his pageant? Because Donald Trump is a rapist as a matter of legal fact.
- A rapist who is not only sickeningly still walking free, but is the frontrunner for the Nazi party.
  
  I'd say that it's a new low for the Nazi party, but we all know it's not.
  
  I'd say that it's a new low for the Nazi party, but we all know it's not.
  
  I mean, that has more to do with how low the bar has been set. Trump has been digging diligently for decades, but the bar is halfway through the planet’s mantle.
  
  The thing is, when you allow the single opposing party in our system to run against a literal Nazi party, no one wins. Except the wealthy of course.
Trump and his lawyers have been really pissing off both the judge and the jury with how unseriously they're treating the proceedings. They're gonna take two hours (an absurdly short time for a jury) and write a check for $15mil, I bet.
- Trump will never pay anyone. They're going to have to garnish his pension from being president.
  
  I am not a lawyer, but according to this site: https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/will-filing-for-bankruptcy-stop-a-civil-lawsuit.html
  
  "Bankruptcy will stop almost all civil litigation matters except for family court cases involving domestic support obligations, at least temporarily."
  
  He's looking at about 400 mill from the New York Fraud trial.
  
  This is civil litigation. He's going to pull the Rudy G. maneuver.
  
  Assuming he doesn't get back in in 2024 (or 2028) and exonerate himself from his own crimes.
- pissing off both the judge and the jury
  
  There’s still one other role for him to piss off if he wants to go for the trifecta.
  
  Not in a civil trial, unfortunately.
- I think they are likely to return an award for punitive damages that is closer to $150 million.
  
  How did you come up with that number?
So when is somebody going to sentence this shit weasel?
- Rape has a statute of limitations. Even if he came forward and said flat out that he raped her, he can’t be charged criminally for it. He can be charged civilly though, which is why he keeps claiming it never happened.
You yanks and your rapey presidents

@DevCat @politics
- Don't forget our rapey Supreme Court Justices that serve for life and take bribes with no consequence!
- You Brits and your rapey royals. At least our rapists aren't just parasitic figureheads, I guess.
  
  "Brits"? He's the most Australian Aussie I think I've ever seen.
So has reality.
people who vote for a rapist don't deserve protection from rape
- Wtf is this "eye for an eye" shit. You don't deserve to get raped period.
He rapes and he saves, but he rapes more than he saves.
- He doesn't save though.
  
  He saves classified documents
Is this the best our country can do? Two dinosaurs who act inappropriately around women and children?
- I think you are (intentionally?) confusing the large gap and missing the nuance between raping, potentially even worse things as we’ve recently got more proof of, and acting goofy and awkward with greetings or whatever. Both can be described inappropriate, sure, but you have to realize there’s a long way between rape, pedophilia, and awkward greetings with kisses to forehead or whatever.
  
  He assaulted Tara Reid and you call it a kiss on the forehead? Your blue hat must be full of mercury. You're sick
- Two?
Fun fact: the UK defines rape as "penetration with his penis", so, in the UK and legally speaking, a woman can't rape a man.

Instead, it would be sexual assault, which has the same sentencing range. However, we all know that female rape against males is not prosecuted as harshly, if at all.

Not that women have better luck in court, mind. It's all messed up, and it's not like locking someone up actually stops them from doing it again as soon as they get out. Detention is not an effective deterrent - the most effective deterrent is the certainty of being caught. After that, rehabilitation is needed. But hey, private prisons need bums in cells.
- I don't think this comment is appropriate in this comment thread.
  
  The core here is a famous and powerfull rapist got away with it and made light of the crime and defamed the victim. Then was found liable in civil court for the defamation.. went out of court.. and F-ing defamed her again immediately.
  
  I hope they throw the book at him and fine him into the ground with punitive damages. He says he is a billionaire.. so let's test if a 500 million fine will get him to stop defaming the victim.
  
  I hope Ms Carrol becomes the owner of Mar-a-lago and turns it into a Summercamp for lgbti youth.
  
  I don't think this comment is appropriate in this comment thread.
  
  I appreciate the context you gave after this statement, however I disagree with the conclusion you started with.
  
  The purpose of my comment was to highlight that New York isn't all that unique in its definition of rape - there are others that are similar. However, in New York, state law is superseded by Federal law. The judge here has treaded on eggshells to make a declaration that fits under federal law, but doesn't quite line up under state law. Such a declaration wouldn't even be possible under UK law.
  
  I, too, hope that Trump actually faces the consequences of his corruption. I hold my breath in anticipation, though, rather than celebrate him merely being told off.
- That fact is not fun nor is it relevant.
  
  Not fun, sure, but how is the legal definition of "rape" of a prominent jurisdiction not relevant - especially in a discussion about how Federal laws says rape is any penetration of the vagina, but the New York state definition require a penis - just like UK law?!
  
  NY law is closer to UK law than US federal law. That's the subtext of what I said. You have just jumped on a bandwagon here, and haven't contributed anything of any significance.
  
  Booooo to you.
  
  I'm trying to highlight shit that is wrong in the world. You're just trying to say I'm wrong because I'm talking about things that are wrong.
- Permanently Deleted
  
  Youre fighting for the right
  
  Take your head out of your ass and stop looking for a fight. I'm not in any way supporting Trump nor any far right agenda.
- Colloquially, we still call them rapists, even if the legal term is different. Similarly, we don’t call people common assaulted, even if that’s the legal term. They are attackers, etc.
  
  "Colloquial rape", unfortunately, doesn't cut the mustard in a legal setting. This is, apparently, a particularly relevant subject when discussing rape law in NY.
  
  This also actually points to something I've used as a challenge for people who are hard lined right/vs/wrong:
  
  If someone robs a bank, but they aren't caught, are they still a bank robber?

You've viewed 71 comments.