Prison time couldn’t happen to nicer folks

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[1] public domain.

The crimes of January 6, fraudulent election claims, and a conspiracy to keep Donald Trump in office were not crimes of economic desperation.^[2] They were about asserting illegitimate (even by illegitimate standards) authority. I say, let ’em rot.^[3] Don’t even remove their bodies from their cells when they die; they can serve as cellmates for future convicts in all this.

Ryan J. Reilly, “Federal judge sets March trial date in Trump’s election interference case,” NBC News, August 28, 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/federal-judge-set-trump-trial-date-election-interference-case-rcna101669

Tori Otten, “Former Judge Trashes ‘Stunningly Stupid’ Move From Trump’s Legal Team,” New Republic, August 29, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/175225/judge-stunningly-stupid-move-trump-legal-team-scottsboro-boys

Katelyn Polantz, “Giuliani loses defamation lawsuit from two Georgia election workers,” CNN, August 30, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/politics/rudy-giuliani-georgia-election-workers/index.html

Jaclyn Diaz, “Proud Boys leaders sentenced to a combined 32 years for Jan. 6 riot,” National Public Radio, August 31, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1196972258/proud-boys-sentence-jan-6-joseph-biggs

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1. ^[1]Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 25, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html↩
2. ^[2]Steven E. Barkan, Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006).; Jeffrey Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, 7th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004).↩
3. ^[3]Jaclyn Diaz, “Proud Boys leaders sentenced to a combined 32 years for Jan. 6 riot,” National Public Radio, August 31, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1196972258/proud-boys-sentence-jan-6-joseph-biggs↩