The decision by Justice Juan M. Merchan means voters will be left in the dark about whether the former president will face time behind bars.

The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan postponed his sentencing until after Election Day, a significant victory for the former president as he seeks to overturn his conviction and win back the White House.

In a ruling on Friday, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, rescheduled the sentencing for Nov. 26. He had previously planned to hand down Mr. Trump’s punishment on Sept. 18, just seven weeks before Election Day, when Mr. Trump will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.

While the decision will avert a courtroom spectacle in the campaign’s final stretch, the delay itself could still affect the election, keeping voters in the dark about whether the Republican presidential nominee will eventually spend time behind bars.

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  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    2 months ago

    A prison sentence looks way more like political suppression

    He’s not getting a prison sentence. The judge in the trial straight up stated he did not want to put Trump in prison during the trial. He’ll get a fine, which he’ll be able to pay off with kickbacks from his friends, and the it’ll be back to business as usual.

    I can see why a judge who has otherwise seemed same and nonpartisan

    The judge is anything but nonpartisan. He’s very obviously conscious of what his career is going to look like under either administration, and he’s playing very carefully so as not to overly offend either party leadership.

    • ricecake
      2·
      2 months ago

      I’m unaware of anything the judge has done that strikes me as particularly partisan.

      “Not offending either party” is definitely not a partisan act. It’s almost the definition of nonpartisan.

      I can’t fault him overmuch for granting the schedule change, since reading the letter from the prosecution regarding it they do seem to be effectively agreeing that it should be moved. If the defense requests a scheduling change, and the prosecution doesn’t object and makes some points about why it might be a good idea so as to “assist the court”, it’s pretty hard for a judge to deny the request.

      https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25050972/2024-08-16-peoples-response-filed.pdf https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25100931/people-v-djt-letter-adjournment-dec-9-6-24.pdf

      Do you have a citation for him saying that he didn’t want to send him to jail? I feel like I would have heard something like that and the searches don’t turn up anything particularly relevant.