this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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[–] slate@sh.itjust.works 109 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Struck down due to the 8th amendment, which reads, in its entirety:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

He was fined what he profitted from fraud that the judges agree he committed, plus interest. In what world is that excessive?

So, if you're going to steal, steal $500 million or more, because then the government can't take it back since that would be an excessive fine.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 74 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

He was fined what he profitted from fraud that the judges agree he committed, plus interest. In what world is that excessive?

Wow... i saw the headlines but didn't realize this was the case. Not even punitive fines. Literally this is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM it could be without fraud being profitable.

[–] Auntievenim@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In the 323-page decision, Judge Moulton said that American voters had “obviously rendered a verdict” on Trump’s political career.

“This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business,” the judge wrote.

Judge says voters gave him that money fair and square

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 21 points 1 day ago

“This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business,” the judge wrote.

The entire business was fraudulent, top to bottom, it SHOULD be dismantled. That's like a judge whining that it's unfair to put Al Capone out of business.

without fraud being profitable.

Actually... scratch that.

With this fine, it actually was profitable. Interest is always lower than what someone could actually earn on the funds if they just dropped it into some broad market ETF, or reinvested it to commit more fraud.

[–] blattrules@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It’s great that our bill of rights only applies to the rich now.

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Always has.

[–] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's ok, they just set a precident that if you steal $100 million or more, you won't have to pay it back because ots more than your worth, and is excessive. Cool, anyone up to rob a bank?

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

You need to rob the banking system, not just one bank.

[–] waddle_dee@lemmy.world 122 points 1 day ago (3 children)

HE'S A FUCKING MULTI-BILLIONAIRE!!!! And now he just gets to walk away. What a fucking joke, our system is.

[–] moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He lies about his wealth. We all know he’s really worth about tree fitty.

[–] frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He's almost certainly back into at least multi-millionaire status. The reason is that he's been grifting the hell out of the office of the President. The cryptocoin, for example, was money in his pocket; yes, it crashed in price almost immediately, but that was already after he took their money. Or perhaps more likely, had it as a method of backdoor bribes.

If he's not at least a multi-millionaire after all that grift, then I have to wonder just how bad he is at this.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago

He wasn't trying to make money on the crypto itself, he knew that was a dog. He owns the trading platform, so he made money on every trade when they bought in, and then made money on every trade as they panic-sold it on the way down.

That little scam reportedly made him over a billion. Then he did it again with Melania crypto.

[–] WalrusDragonOnABike@reddthat.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] antaymonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Upvote for reference, but my god that number...

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He was deep in the hole when he was first elected. Being in the government has been very profitable for him. A recent report had his businesses already profiting over $3.4 billion since his most RECENT inauguration.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Isn't like most of that crypto?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

Some of it.

Just doing its job, protecting the rich and oppressing you.

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

TRUMP SHOULD BE ARRESTED

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To the surprise of absolutely no one Trump encounters no consequences as a result of his criminal behavior.

[–] 3abas@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

To the surprise of most... Go back and find threads discussing the original ruling and notice how everyone was celebrating, and see how the voices saying nothing will come of it get downvoted. They do this on purpose to pacify the masses, and when everyone is distracted with the next shitty situation they take away the little victories they gave you and you're too busy with the current scandal to worry about the broken legal system.

[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

Release the Trump/Epstein files

[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 37 points 1 day ago
[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 52 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The court made very clear that Trump, this feckless spawn, and the Trump organizing committed fraud. It just ruled that the judgement was excessive. They're still guilty. There will still be a penalty. It will just be lower.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 64 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If the fine goes lower, then the fine just becomes the cost of doing business.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 day ago

Exactly. The courts don’t want to fix anything. They just want their cut.

[–] slate@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The fine is what he profitted from fraud plus interest. How could that ever be considered excessive? What a joke.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago

Excessive? FUCK YOU.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

Inching closer to Russia every day.

This is going to be such an awful place to live by the end of our lives.

[–] ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Note that the article's embedded tweet by a right-wing rag that it's a "federal" court is wrong. That implies it would go to the Supreme Court, which of course is in Trump's corner.

No, this is the 1st Appellate Division in NY state court, which is the first appellate level above the Supreme Court (in NY, the "Supreme Court" is the lowest general court level).

Per James, it's getting appealed to the highest New York state court, the NY Court of Appeals. Trump could still challenge in federal court due to the 8th Amendment argument, but this is not over by any means and may very well be reversed again at the Court of Appeals.

In a statement released after the ruling, James stated her office’s intention to appeal it.

“The First Department today affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud,” James said.

“The court upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers’ ability to do business in New York. It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit.

“We will seek appeal to the Court of Appeals and continue to protect the rights and interests of New Yorkers.”

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Aren't fraud penalties supposed to be excessive? Like if I could save $20 with fraud, and the fine was a reasonable $20, it wouldn't just be an ineffective deterrent. It would be a bad financial decision to not commit fraud.

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not in the US. That would bankrupt half of our corporate overlords and upset shareholders.

[–] frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

There were lots of US stories about "oh, this lady got millions for spilling coffee on her" (with no mention of just how bad those burns were and how unreasonable the temperature settings on McDonald's coffee machines actually were. This spurned a bunch of laws and rulings that put limits on liability.

The refrain of "they just wanted money" resonated with people. People who don't recognize that punishing companies on their balance sheet is often the only method capitalism offered to ever rectify these things.

So what I'm saying is, Luigi did nothing wrong.

[–] Kanda@reddthat.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Boiling water should be about 100 degrees C, no?

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, from now on, if anyone negatively speaks of the victim of McDonald's boiling hot coffee, I just say this, "two words: fused labia".

Either they are too stupid to understand and therefore not worth my time, or they understand and are horrified.

Free Luigi.

Guillotine the rich.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago

America loves its autocrats breaking the law - clearly.

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago
[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I'm sure it'll all go away and he'll live out his days happily, unbothered by anything.

[–] JHRD1880@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Because of course. As soon as he won the election it was crystal clear that all his legal troubles would either vanish or be postponed for so long that they ultimately wouldn't matter anymore.