How to permanently crack down on Team Trump's 'Kraken'
The only thing surprising about U.S. District Judge Linda Parkers order early last month imposing monetary sanctions on nine Trump attorneys was that it was so long in coming. These lawyers led by conspiracy-theorists-in-chief Sidney Powell and Lin Wood made outlandish claims of election fraud in Michigan and other key battleground states, all of which were roundly rejected by every court that considered them.
The Michigan suit was part of multistate litigation that Powell called the Kraken after the mythic sea monster (the release of which she claimed would destroy President Joe Bidens victory). The Trump legal team made unsubstantiated claims of computerized ballot stuffing by a deceased foreign dictator and late-night ballot dumps by mysterious trucks, leading Parker to lambaste the lawsuit as a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.
The Kraken suit, and others brought by Trump campaign attorneys, imposed a stress test on the American legal system by seeking to co-opt courts to advance a fabricated account of the election results. Parkers order suggests that the American system passed this test just barely, and just for now. To protect against this type of attack in the future requires a concerted effort by the entire legal profession. It is therefore crucial that the lawyers on the bench and in the bar take seriously what they can do and must do better.
Parkers order offers judges a master class in how to mobilize the significant tools at their disposal to protect against efforts to convert courtrooms into platforms for partisan, conspiratorial spectacles. These wide-ranging tools are derived from statutes, court rules and the inherent powers of judges to enforce standards of conduct in their courtrooms. This mean enforcing rules against vexatious litigation, frivolous claims and the failure to conduct independent analysis and fact-checking required by officers of the court.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/lessons-trump-s-kraken-lawyer-sanctions-michigan-ncna1278188
LetMyPeopleVote
(144,005 posts)PJMcK
(21,921 posts)Did Sidney Powell and Lin Wood really believe their claims would hold up to scrutiny? Are they and their elk so disconnected from reality that they thought they would succeed?
How foolish! Not only are their careers finished but theyll probably be disbarred and sued.
Such idiots.