A toxic brew of money and threats is perverting the courts

[Swede]

"The only way for judges to steer clear of the ire of people like Jones, Musk, & Trump — & their supporters — is to rule in their favor. Any other outcome is deemed rigged & corrupt. The courts aren't equipped to deal with this."

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3ld6zlvkwfs2j

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Here's the article:

Public Notice - A toxic brew of money and threats is perverting the courts

Alex Jones and Elon Musk are using MAGA tactics to intimidate judges.

Lisa Needham
Dec 13, 2024

Earlier this week, The Onion’s bid to buy Alex Jones’s Infowars fell apart in a manner that was as perplexing as it was depressing. At the same time, Elon Musk was attacking a Chancery Court judge who ruled he couldn’t have his absurdly bloated Tesla pay package of $56 billion.

These cases aren’t just similar because they involve two of the more repugnant people in the current media landscape. They’re also both symptoms of a judicial system that is in no way able to deal with right-wingers who have access to mountains of cash and rabid followers they can sic on judges.

Back in November, The Onion — also known as “America’s Finest News Source” — won a bankruptcy auction for Infowars and announced a plan to turn it into a “very funny, very stupid” website instead of the misinformation and vitriol-filled hellscape it was under Jones. Infowars was on the auction block because Jones owed the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting nearly $1.5 billion in default judgments for his relentless promotion of the conspiracy theory that the shooting was staged by “crisis actors.”

Rather than pay, Jones filed bankruptcy for three of his shell companies, trying to force the Sandy Hook plaintiffs to accept $10 million, or roughly 0.6 percent of what they were awarded. He then dragged the families through bankruptcy court for two years — after having spent three years fighting the initial lawsuits — but was ultimately required to sell Infowars and other assets via bankruptcy auction to satisfy creditors.

Enter The Onion, whose bid was undertaken with the cooperation of the Sandy Hook families.

/snip

[republianmushroom]

2. And this does help instill faith in our justice system.

For a time I though only republicans did things like this. Proven wrong, again.

Biden commutes sentence for Kids-for-Cash judge
https://www.citizensvoice.com/2024/12/12/biden-commutes-sentence-for-kids-for-cash-judge/

Former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan, who gained notoriety for wrongfully imprisoning juveniles in the Kids-for-Cash scandal, is one of nearly 1,500 inmates whose sentences President Joe Biden commuted Thursday as his term in office comes to a close.

Conahan, 72, was convicted along with former judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 74, of funneling juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks.