Monday, July 27, 2015

In which Donald Trump's lawyer doesn't know the law

We already knew that Donald Trump is not in any way, shape, or form qualified to be President of the United States. Reality tv show host, he can handle. But leader of the free world is way, way above his skill level. While many of us might think that Putin is a loser and Kim Jong Un is a dummy, diplomacy requires not saying those things out loud. The Donald doesn't know how to do anything in any other way than as loudly as possible.

But today we further learned that Donald Trump's lawyer is, well, I guess I'm gonna do it. In terms The Donald himself would approve, Donald Trump's lawyer is a loser and a dummy.

Many decades ago, The Donald's first wife, Ivana, made an accusation about a sexual encounter with her then-husband. To all English speakers, the description she gave sure sounded like a rape. A she said no, he did it anyway, there was force involved rape.

This allegation has been known for decades, was in fact covered in a book published in 1993. But The Donald is running for president now, so it came back to light today. The Donald's attorney responded to the questions with an epically incorrect legal answer. According to The Donald's attorney, "And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse...You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”

I'll give you a minute to facepalm. Let me know when you're ready to resume reading.

You're ready now? No, yeah, he really said that. Need a little more facepalm time? I get it.

Ok. Let's just be clear about one thing. In every state in this country, having sex with a person who has said no, who has not consented, is rape. Period. End of story. Ring, vows, certificates, none of it matters. No means no regardless of marital status and no state in this country has said otherwise since 1993.

It's true that (shamefully), there used to be laws in these United States that said that it was a defense to a rape charge that the defendant is married to the victim. These laws stemmed from the gross, patriarchal, despicable idea that sex was a marital right due to men that women couldn't deny them. Fortunately, our society eventually said that was a big load of hooey and all of those laws have been changed. All of them, in all 50 states. There are still some states that distinguish situations of intoxication or other incapacitation, but let's not make ourselves angry dwelling on that stuff right now. Instead, let's focus on the fact that any time a conscious person says no or otherwise does not consent to sex but is made to engage in sex against her (or his) will, it is rape under the law. And no state will claim the defendant has a defense by virtue of being married to the victim. The last such law was repealed in 1993. Phew.

The Donald's lawyer doesn't know this. He doesn't seem to understand any of the law as it relates to rape and consent and marriage. Now, the lawyer might now claim he was referring to the law at the time of this alleged incident, which I understand to be around 1989. But sadly for the lawyer, the law in New York (which I believe would have been the relevant jurisdiction) stopped recognizing marriage as a defense to rape in 1984. So that doesn't even save this guy.

This lawyer's answer today was that you can't rape your wife. That hasn't been the law anywhere for over 20 years and in New York for over 30 years. So, yeah, this lawyer is a dummy who gives horrible legal advice. Which kinda makes him a loser. It certainly makes him someone none of us should feel comfortable being so close to a top-of-the-polls presidential candidate.

So we actually did learn some good stuff today. We learned that The Donald's lawyer badly needs to attend some Continuing Legal Education courses. We learned that The Donald doesn't surround himself with the best and the brightest as his chief lawyer is at least 30 years out of date on some key points of law. We didn't really learn that The Donald is a megalomaniac who thinks he can do what he wants with people he controls (like his wives) because this allegation has been public for over 20 years.

As for the lawyer, I hope the one thing he learns is this: You're fired.

4 comments:

Burt Likko said...

Were any of us put on the spot and forced to opine about something outside of our field of specialty, we'd be like as not to make a mistake.

Hopefully we would have the wisdom and modesty to say something like, "You know, I do M&A work, and I'm just not a criminal defense attorney. I understand people in divorce proceedings say all sorts of wild things that aren't necessarily true. Now, I'm quite confident my client's done nothing wrong."

But this fellow lacked that modesty.

He also lacked the decorum and wisdom to refrain from threatening to sue the Daily Beast if they went forward with the story, which is a special touch of class.

Anonymous said...

I think I have never seen such blogs ever before that has complete things with all details which I want. So kindly update this ever for us. Ronen Kurzfeld - Immigration Lawyer Toronto

Anonymous said...

Controversies have included countless falsehoods, links with Russia, possible obstruction of justice, alleged payments to a porn star, separating immigrant families, and allegations of golden showers to name just a few.Donald Trump's UK visit03:26, 9 APR 2020Couple get married and jailed on same day after flouting coronavirus lockdown rulesCoronavirusThe couple had just finished their vows when armed police stormed the ceremony which was taking place in front of 53 guests in South Africa on SundayTiger King's Joe Exotic pardon 'to be considered' by Donald Trump as pressure growsTiger KingMomentum is growing to pardon Tiger King star Joe Exotic, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his part in a murder for hire plot and animal cruelty chargesBernie Sanders dropping out of presidential race leaving Biden to face TrumpBernard SandersBernie Sanders is ending his presidential campaign which had started off promisingly with wins in New Hampshire and Nevada but he performed poorly on Super TuesdayDonald Trump says UK has 'desperately' asked US for 200 coronavirus ventilatorsCoronavirusUK ministers confirmed the country has asked America for help after Donald Trump said Britain 'wanted 200, they need them desperately'Tiger King: Donald Trump Jr.

Pour ses MK Outlet petits enfants, Escobar avait fait une sorte de Jordan Shoes For Sale parc Belmont, qui a agrandi et Cheap Yeezy Shoes Sale am par une entreprise Coach Outlet Clearance priv mais qui a du mal s'emp d'effacer les traces d'Escobar. Kirkpatrick had 33 tackles, one sack and Air Force 1 In Store one fumble recovery before Cheap Nike Air Force 1 going down for the final 10 games of the season.Cincinnati signed cornerbacks Trae Waynes Yeezy Shoes For Sale and Mackensie Alexander from the Vikings earlier this month New Air Jordan Shoes as unrestricted free agents..

MATINA said...

I was diagnosed as HEPATITIS B carrier in 2013 with fibrosis of the
liver already present. I started on antiviral medications which
reduced the viral load initially. After a couple of years the virus
became resistant. I started on HEPATITIS B Herbal treatment from
ULTIMATE LIFE CLINIC (www.ultimatelifeclinic.com) in March, 2020. Their
treatment totally reversed the virus. I did another blood test after
the 6 months long treatment and tested negative to the virus. Amazing
treatment! This treatment is a breakthrough for all HBV carriers.

 
Blog Designed by : NW Designs