Not Illegal To Ask Your Fans To Spam A Judge... Though, Still Not Particularly Smart

from the spam-spam-spam-spam dept

Wed, May 26th 2010 2:53am — Mike Masnick

Earlier this year, we noted that infomercial king Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of court after asking his "fans" to email the judge in a case in which Trudeau is battling the FTC. The contempt charge is a bit tricky, because it's difficult to see what's wrong with having people email a publicly available judge. And, indeed, it appears that the contempt charge has been overturned and Trudeau won't have to go to jail over it after all. That said, it still doesn't seem particularly wise to ask people to spam a judge who's in charge of determining your fate.

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Filed Under: contempt, judge, kevin trudeau, spam
Companies: ftc

17 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 3:01am

Not sure how it qualifies as "spam" under the "Can SPAM" Law to have secondary opinions sent to someone who will read them.

This Judge should see the stuff I get delivered every day in my Spam box that I ignore.

Maybe it's a problem with him ignoring certain things. Who knows. Maybe he needs a hug from his son who told him to go fuck a goat. It's anyone's guess at this point.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 3:04am

Not the best move, but maybe his trying to test/try something out, after all, judges are supposed to unbiased and impartial. Just a thought...
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- OtherKevin, 26 May 2010 @ 3:52am
  
  Re:
  Agreed. But now that the judge has ruled him to be in contempt and was overturned (presumably on free speech grounds) he will have an easier time making an appeal based on judicial bias.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 3:08am

I still think he wants a hug.
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Chris in Utah (profile), 26 May 2010 @ 4:13am

In the words of George Carlin..

"Just keep kicking them in the nutz"

Sometimes it does take something like this to wake people up. Otherwise is passed over. Words of wisdom folks, never take it lying down.
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trench0r (profile), 26 May 2010 @ 4:24am

hmm
don't you mean "lobby" a judge?
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- Rob, 26 May 2010 @ 6:27am
  
  Re: hmm
  If the judge is elected, then a bribe^H^H^H^H^H contribution is perfectly okee-dokey. If not, you gotta incorporate first.
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Krusty, 26 May 2010 @ 6:21am

But still...
trudeau should got to jail just because he's such a big PITA.
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WammerJammer (profile), 26 May 2010 @ 8:05am

Funny
Idiots abound!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 8:31am

I think it was overturned merely on procedural grounds in that the appeals court did not believe that the emails were actually interfering with the court in session. It could still be referred to the attorney general as a separate case.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 8:36am

Mike, Esq. - You might want to rethink that headline. If you actually read the opinion, you'll see that the court doesn't reach any conclusions about whether Trudeau's conduct could constitute contempt (i.e. be illegal). The couirt just says that it wrong of the lower court judge to impose criminal contempt sanctions through summary disposition (i.e. without a prosecution, where there would be additional fact-finding, the defendant could present evidence, etc.)

So you're right that it may not be a very good idea, but it also may be illegal.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2010 @ 2:52pm

IANAL, but my understanding is that you do not have to do something illegal to be held in contempt of court, you only have to do something that the judge feels is disrespectful to lawful authority or else otherwise inappropriate for the courtroom and has given explicit warning about. One cannot be reasonably held in contempt of court for something that has already happened, only something that one is presently doing after already being explicitly warned that they will be held in contempt of court for doing so and have been given an opportunity to either discontinue or not repeat (so for example, the judge cannot immediately hold one in contempt of court for wearing a spiderman costume into the courtroom, for instance, but the judge can order that the person leave, change, and come back. Failing to comply could reasonably result in lawful contempt charges).
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okwhen (profile), 27 May 2010 @ 6:03am

Not Illegal To Ask Your Fans To Spam A Judge... Though, Still Not Particularly Smart
The bias in this story is with the author Mr. Masnick. People have letter sent to judges on their behalf all the time and this is consider a common practice. Therefore how is this conceived as something taboo? Mr. Masnick research requires additional work and if he considers himself covering a story, only present the facts and save your ass hole and opinions for someone who cares. The judge’s bias is evident by having his decision overturned and the author Mr. Masnick opinion not fact falls by the way side as well. This is a great article if not for the non founded spin of the author.
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Contemplationist, 27 May 2010 @ 11:33am

Trudeau! hah
I detest the FTC and its unlawful methods. However, if there's no one more deserving of all of its opprobrium than that slick fraud Kevin Trudeau. May he end up in jail
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Overtkill (profile), 27 May 2010 @ 11:51am

Judges....
Judges need love too. :)
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Boraxo (profile), 1 Jun 2010 @ 1:30pm

Just put...
..."amicus brief" in the subject line.
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In Defense of Liberty, 13 Jun 2010 @ 10:40pm

Just another example of a judge's ego taking predecent over justice. Its simply amazing that the courts find no problem with people trashing the flag or the country but are so easily offended themselves. If it wasnt so pathetic it would be funny. I hope this judge is voted out next time he is up for election or is brought up on charges himself. It is shameful that such people preside over our courts.
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