Billionaire-Backed Conservative Legal Groups Are Paying for Judges’ Luxury Vacations
Billionaire-Backed Conservative Legal Groups Are Paying for Judges’ Luxury Vacations
Right-wing legal interests funded by the megawealthy are routinely feting lower-court judges and treating them to all-expenses-paid trips, which effectively function as a reward system for judges who espouse and maintain hard-line conservative legal views.
We should try making bribery illegal again. That would be fun.
118A low level government employee would loss their job if someone takes them out to a nice dinner.
We don't need to make it illegal, it already is.
We need to start enforcing the rules across the board.
38If I accept "gifts" above a very small amount it's a big deal. With inflation it got to the point we could barely have meals or celebrations with vendors when major projects were completed. Private sector is rife with this behavior though, corporate boxes at sporting venues etc. and the schmoozing.
16
Illegal for the people doing and taking the bribe, with real teeth.
13The thing is- at least with SCOTUS justices- we can make absolutely anything illegal regarding them and they can just turn around and say, "fuck you, what are you going to do about it?" And the rest of the government says, "uh... nothing I guess?"
3
Genuinely how is this not considered illegal in the US?
If you tried this in most parts of Europe you'd be charged for committing bribery48The Supreme Court of the United States has decided that corporations are people and money is free speech.
We have become what Benjamin Franklin feared we would become. He could see the future:
“In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government, but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government.”
48The founders feared political factions forming above all and basically designed the government around not allowing factions to take absolute power, like separating the presidential office from the executive branch etc. and not even making the position clear. Presidents have basically pushed on the limits and defined the office over the years and political factions formed around economic interests of the people because of course they would. At first you basically needed a minimum amount of worked land to even vote in most states, men's suffrage happened long before women's. America was basically designed as a free real estate project and sort of still is.
12when the people shall have become so corrupted as to need a despotic government.
See that’s interesting. Franklin’s talking about society getting fucked up and naturally spawning a bad government above itself as a necessary part of its own structure.
It’s not just that people get corrupt and form a despotic government, it’s that the world getting fucked up means despots are more likely to be liked and desired by people seeking safety from the corruption around them.
4
It's illegal.
Enforceable is the issue here because the people being bribed are the same ones that would ultimately decide any criminal appeals and they, themselves, have no accountability or oversight.
22
So the courts are illegitimate. Got it.
27What do we do about it
7I’ll tell you what we do. We turn all of Sunnyvale into an all-inclusive resort and casino, we charge at the door, and we all the liquor and free dope you want. Then we get those judge cocksuckers to come out and party with us so they think we’re cool, and we can pass any laws we want.
It’ll fuckin work, I know it will boys. We just gotta come together and make er happen, like in the old days.
6Nothing. As usual.
1It's simple: stop going to court, paying taxes or supporting them in any way. Band together with like-minded people under new collectively agreed upon laws you actually will follow. Train yourselves to fight for when the thugs of the old system inevitably do come at your door. Buy land and set up intentional communities, and start putting money toward buying land in the former counties to regain control. Bribe officials in the old counties to facilitate this.
That's the bare minimum of what we should be doing right now, honestly. The bare, bare minimum.
Really we should be banding together and overthrowing those old governments.
-4
And have been since at least Dred Scott.
2It has always been this way.
2
The framers COMPLETELY dropped the ball on checks on the judicial.
We need a new constitution. This one was designed for information at the speed of horse, a population less than 2% the size of today's, and sets too high a bar to change the status quo. It might have been the most flexible governmental framework of its time, but that was a quarter millennium ago, before the first mass produced revolver was a twinkle in colt's eye btw.
I think most of the framers would be shocked and not necessarily pleased that we haven't by now. Then again, some of them would be upset that women and minorities can vote, so maybe their opinion wouldn't mean much.
23It was basically designed around nobody having enough power to do anything that would affect landowners, or doing much in general. I think the founders would be shocked at the political factions they feared so much and considered the country a failed project. They didn't see a reason for anyone to vote that didn't hold arable land etc. Kicked the can on slavery as far down the road as they could to avoid the inevitable confrontation. Handed power back to the planters during reconstruction. Beat down any opportunity for collective public action.
11To be fair they dropped the ball completely on the whole of the judiciary. They said "Okay there's a Supreme Court, and it'll have at least a Chief Justice... Congress can decide how many others there are, but they serve for life. And Congress can determine how it works otherwise. There should probably be some lower courts and stuff but Congress can figure that out later."
11I used to imagine, "What would a new constitution look like if we actually invoked the clause to hold another constitutional convention?"
But imagine if we voted to hold one now, when billionaires hold so much power already. I all but guarantee that they'd make sure they had control over a majority of the delegates, and we'd end up with something that was somehow even worse than what we have today.
6Before we can even have a talk of a new government, we have to get rid of the villains destroying every government from the inside.
And that will cause a power vacuum sociopaths will use to take over. It already happened to Russia.
4
The framers COMPLETELY dropped the ball on checks on the judicial.
First and second amendments were intended to be that check. Communicating and causing damage are the two capabilities a populace needs to be respectable enough to have to play nice with.
And all this talk of revolution … that’s the check. The government was built with an off switch, in the form of specific protections for the things that could destroy it.
They knew that no structure would be incorruptible. You can have layers but eventually the layers stop. It’s a who watches the watchers that watch the watchers … and so forth scenario.
They knew that there’s no way to arrange those pieces so that it won’t go bad eventually. Sp they made a rule that the people must keep the power to destroy that structure.
Like summoning a dragon to protect you, but first making sure there are dragon-proof boxes with lances inside, because dragons are dangerous as fuck. You only summon one if there’s something even worse coming at you. But just because it’s your best option doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous as fuck and may need to be put down.
2
Anyone else remember the “activist judges” bullshit. It’s always, always, always projection with these fuckers.
11Ding ding ding. If it comes out of their mouth it is because they did it already or are planning to do it. It is like that employee at work who accuses someone of stealing so no one will notice that they are the thief.
2
Yeah Scalia died while on one of these trips.
10good to know even the rich sometimes get bad coke
5
“One country for sale, slightly used, quiet neighborhood, fixer upper. Act quick before the disillusioned citizens wake up from the propaganda fever dream we have lulled them into!”
10I feel like this system is past the point where it can be saved at this point.
10You don't say....
8Did the conservative judges rule that money equal speech and corporations are people? So the richer you are, the more speech you have and the "poors" are free to use all the money they have-- oh the poors have no money? Then they have no speech.
Bad ruling for democracy. Shame!
8"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
3
"b-b-but destroying democracy isn't illegal! stop oppressing me!"
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