“The issue, now before Cannon in the Southern District of Florida federal court, is likely to remain in the political debate at least until Cannon holds a hearing on the legal power of the special counsel to prosecute a defendant, on June 21.”

  • mpa92643@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    The role of a district court judge is to do two things:

    1. Apply existing precedent to individual cases to the greatest extent possible.
    2. Set new precedent only when absolutely necessary because the facts of the case don’t align well to existing precedent.

    Cannon has basically decided to do the exact opposite of these two rules by pretending that the facts of this case are so incredibly unprecedented that she has to throw out the rulebook and set new precedents on everything.

    Literally the only unusual thing about this case is that the defendant, a private citizen who currently gets free government security protection for the rest of his life, used to be a president. That’s it. Everything else about this case is straightforward obstruction of justice and willful retention of national security information.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Literally the only unusual thing about this case is that the defendant, a private citizen who currently gets free government security protection for the rest of his life, used to be a president. That’s it.

      That, and he got to appoint his own judge. And he’s got 3 members of the Supreme Court to back him up. And he’s got all sorts of national security secrets, but is still walking around free. And he’s got virtually unlimited resources, but isn’t considered a flight risk.

      • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        And he’s got 3 members of the Supreme Court to back him up.

        Only 3?

        I assume Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett are guaranteed to back him. Kavanaugh likely will, and Roberts if he thinks he can get away with it while maintaining his thin veneer of legitimacy.