I disagree — the gag order was smart. It’s vastly easier for the judge to immediately punish someone for violating a gag order with one in place than without — as we’ve seen, the judge has been able to levy penalties with only a 10 minute hearing.
Yes, so far those penalties have been minimal — but they build and increase. It’s certainly not unusual for a judge to ramp up the penalties to give the defendant time to clean up their act — but every judges patience eventually wears thin if their orders keep getting violated. These orders are only meaningful if they’re backed up by something, and I don’t think any judge wants to be known as the one that lets defendants safely ignore their orders.
The judge is playing it smart, and is using a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. If Trump continues to decide to try to skirt the order I suspect the penalties will start ramping up into serious territory (including incarceration) very, very quickly.
The judge is just hoping he stops. Trump got plenty of warning before the gag order and now knows it’s just fines for violations. Maybe at some point actual consequences happen, but it’s been awful slow.
Violations of this gag order also lends credibility to other judges’ orders regarding gag orders and their penalties. If Trump has a documented history of violating gag orders in this case, judges in other cases can levy harsher penalties with less likelihood of them being scrutinized and overturned.
I disagree — the gag order was smart. It’s vastly easier for the judge to immediately punish someone for violating a gag order with one in place than without — as we’ve seen, the judge has been able to levy penalties with only a 10 minute hearing.
Yes, so far those penalties have been minimal — but they build and increase. It’s certainly not unusual for a judge to ramp up the penalties to give the defendant time to clean up their act — but every judges patience eventually wears thin if their orders keep getting violated. These orders are only meaningful if they’re backed up by something, and I don’t think any judge wants to be known as the one that lets defendants safely ignore their orders.
The judge is playing it smart, and is using a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. If Trump continues to decide to try to skirt the order I suspect the penalties will start ramping up into serious territory (including incarceration) very, very quickly.
The judge is just hoping he stops. Trump got plenty of warning before the gag order and now knows it’s just fines for violations. Maybe at some point actual consequences happen, but it’s been awful slow.
Violations of this gag order also lends credibility to other judges’ orders regarding gag orders and their penalties. If Trump has a documented history of violating gag orders in this case, judges in other cases can levy harsher penalties with less likelihood of them being scrutinized and overturned.