• Motavader@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    These judges like Wallace are people too, with families who cannot hide behind anonymity like a high profile jury in a mob case. They’ve seen what Trump’s Brown Shirts will do to those they don’t like: anything from incessant threatening phone calls to attempted murder with a hammer. What an impossible position to be in: serve justice, or risk your family being stalk and possibly assaulted.

    This is how democracy dies. It takes very brave people in power to stand up to someone like Trump.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Judges take that risk every time they take a criminal case on. That criminal could always have friends who plot revenge on the judge. And it does happen and judges are aware of it. So that’s a poor excuse.

      I also don’t believe ruling against him will lead to a civil war or anything like that. Not when January 6th was a complete failure. Most Americans, even Trump supporters, aren’t interested in picking up a gun and getting on the front lines.

      • 520@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Judges take that risk every time they take a criminal case on.

        Not at the level of Trump, they don’t.

        What makes Trump unique is that he is the leader of a massive cult. Our retaliation and intimidation laws don’t work so well against those kinds of people because they don’t give direct messages to make something happen. They give public statements and weaponise the wackos who ‘took things the wrong way’.

        These wackos had the balls to storm the capitol. They won’t think much about a judge’s home.

      • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        Judges take that risk every time they take a criminal case on

        The difference here is scale, they don’t usually have to worry about a third of the country hating their guts for making a decision

        Nor is there a certainty in most cases that criminals will have people who want to harm a judge, unlike with Trump

        Yes it’s a threat they see often, but it’s nowhere near the usual level they see it at and it’s very understandable why someone might be legitimately terrified of the situation

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Judges can recuse themselves if that’s how they feel. They don’t have to be there if they don’t want to be.

        • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          Understandable, but giving into terror is only going to bring more of it on you and everyone else too.

          Also, I wonder if every soldier who ever got their life threatened or taken serving our military felt terror, and why their terror would be any less worthy than what these judges are feeling. Those judges took an oath to defend our country in their own way, and they need to make good on it.

          This isn’t easy, but it isn’t complicated either.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      It’s going to SCOTUS anyway, no matter what the ruling is; why should a lower judge put themselves at grave personal risk?