Archive for April, 2014

While a wealthy rapist walks, nobody thinks of the real victims – the AG office lawyers

Filed in National by jason330 on April 2, 2014 • 87 Comments

The Delaware Bar association and others will tell you – the AG office lawyers are the true victims in the “du pont heir will not fare will in prison” case. They are hamstrung when trying to convict wealthy people because the wealthy people can hire lawyers. (Lawyers from the very best firms that the AG office lawyers may hope to join in a year or so.) They also have to contend with the fact that they have a boss that leaves the trickiest decisions most fraught with huge downsides entirely to them.

How can we expect the AG office lawyers to prosecute a case they may lose? Obviously we can’t. The AG office lawyers in this case were facing a lose/lose situation. Either they prosecute the rich guy and likely lose because they are utterly outclassed by the defense lawyers and the child rapist goes free, our they cut a ludicrously lenient deal that allows the child rapist to go free. Obviously in that situation, you cut a deal.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., April 2, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on April 2, 2014 • 6 Comments

Not a whole lot of controversy in yesterday’s session. Only one bill engendered any opposition whatsoever. That bill is HB 246(Paradee) which, according to the not particularly instructive synopsis, “substitutes the term “payment card” for the term “credit card” for purposes of title 11 to broaden the scope of the term to include debit cards […]

Wednesday Daily Delawhere [4.2.14]

Filed in Delaware by Delaware Dem on April 2, 2014 • 0 Comments

Tuesday Open Thread [4.1.14]

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on April 1, 2014 • 13 Comments

Salon: “Here’s a riddle for anyone who thinks the politics of Obamacare are straightforward, and toxic for Democrats. How is it possible, in defiance of public rebuke, widespread misinformation and other headwinds, that insurance enrollment is surging in just about every state in the country?”

Is it because, when people tried it, they liked it, and told their friends? Is it possible that when they tried it, they realized that everything they heard from the Republicans were lies? For the first time since ABC News and Washington Post started polling on public support for Obamacare, the law is viewed positively. 49 percent support. 48 percent oppose. The shift proves the argument that Democrats and liberals have made: that when the benefits of the law prove all Republicans liars, people will support and approve of the law.

Sally Kohn at CNN lists the benefits of the law, a law that benefits all Americans.

The Progressive Message Wins

Filed in National by admin on April 1, 2014 • 8 Comments

Someone challenged a DL blogger to name recent progressive victories. Here is a very partial list.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., April 1, 2014

Filed in Delaware by El Somnambulo on April 1, 2014 • 6 Comments

Today’s Senate Agenda features one bill, but it’s a good one. HB 56(D. Short) “sets certain regulations for motor vehicle data-reporting devices to prohibit the use by insurance companies of such data for anything other than consideration for premium discounts, requires disclosure to the insured of others who may gain access to such data, and otherwise prohibits insurance companies from releasing such data to others.” Quite possibly the best bill sponsored by a Republican this session. Unanimously passed the House, likely to experience a similar fate in the Senate.

The House will likely work HB 265(Schwartzkopf), which would raise about $51 million through various corporate tax increases. Consideration of the bill was delayed last week due to (a) the fact that the Secretary of State, who will carry out this law, was out of state; and (b) the absence of a couple of Democratic legislators from session, calling passage of a super-majority vote into question.

“Delaware Judge enshrines unequal outcomes for child rapists based on wealth” continues to be a national story

Filed in National by jason330 on April 1, 2014 • 14 Comments

Of course, this type of unequal justice has been the norm forever. However, the egregiousness of the crime has finally pulled back the curtain. The son of the Vice President of the United States is involved, and a Delaware judge laid it all out in plain language – the rich get special treatment. The botched prosecution by the AG’s office and Jurden’s resulting sentence wasn’t simply bad, it was so bad that it amounts to an attack on the courts. It spits on the idea that poor people can get a fair shake in our legal system. Resignations and firings must ensue.

They will not ensue. Nobody will be fired and everyone will go back to pretending that justice is blind in a few months (weeks?…days?). The courts will survive this, but they will be diminished in authority and legitimacy. We will have taken one step closer to the ledge. This is one step away from the ideals expounded on in the Declaration of Independence and one step toward another run of the mill plutocracy. In the end we will be another footnote. A historical curiosity that showed a possible other path to the world for a few brief centuries, then got tired of the rigorous effort required to maintain equality and justice.