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[2Smashed4U]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/woman_on_trial_for_laughing_at.html

A woman is standing trial on disorderly conduct charges for laughing during U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing.

The trial for Desiree Fairooz, a 61-year-old protester with the group Code Pink, got underway yesterday in D.C. Superior Court after Fairooz declined to accept a plea bargain from prosecutors, who moved forward with the case.

EDIT: They have been found guilty, could face a year in jail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/us/code-pink-sessions-laughter-trial.html

A jury on Wednesday convicted three Code Pink protesters on charges that they disrupted the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions for attorney general — including a Virginia woman who said all she did was break out in laughter. Each could face up to 12 months in prison.

The Virginia woman, Desiree A. Fairooz, was found guilty of the two charges she faced: disorderly conduct and parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds.

The jury also convicted two other activists in the group she was with, Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, who were dressed as Ku Klux Klan members with white hoods and robes and stood up before the Jan. 10 hearing started.

They were acquitted on a count of disorderly conduct but were convicted on two separate charges of parading or demonstrating, Mr. Barry said.

 

[Shaanyboi]

What the fuck?

 

[RedHill]

Great use of time and resources there

 

[Leona Lewis]

 

[Lord Frieza]

Utter nonsense

 

[A Link to the Past]

Good on her for not allowing the DoJ to bully her. Sessions and his DoJ will have to own prioritizing Sessions' feelings over actual, serious issues.

 

[JP_]

I thought liberals were supposed to be the ones that are easily offended

 

[Zolo]

What was the plea bargain supposed to be?

 

[dhonk]

what in the absolute fucking shit

 

[IrishNinja]

so not only could they not finish coretta scott king's letter, but now this? this entire pathetic administration literally has the thinnest skin

 

[Makonero]

What a fucking snowflake

Which is a perfect metaphor since he's super white and super fragile

 

[theWB27]

Sessions committed perjury and she's on trial before him because of laughing.

Laughing is more a crime than perjury.

 

[danm999]

I'm sure the staunch defenders of free speech in the Republican Party and conservative media will jump to this woman's defense.

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

Wow.

Usually, there's more to these stories - but it was literally just a laugh. They're actually prosecuting her for laughing.

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

Uhhh laughter is usually an uncontrollable response.

 

[Saya]

 

[Previous]

Jeez that's crazy.

Semi-related true story (I swear to god this happened to me):
I once told Eric Holder personally to go fuck himself over the phone when he was AG.
Long story short he had the wrong number, and I thought a friend was playing a prank on me, hence my unprofessional, off-hand response.

Wonder what would happened to me if it was Sessions...

 

[B-Dubs]

All those people complaining about censorship? This is what that looks like in the real world. As if Trump himself having an authoritarian streak wasn't bad enough, the Attorney General has one as well.

Strap in boys and girls, this is going to be longer than we ever dreamed.

 

[Rur0ni]

Crazy how spot on that is.

 

[HowZatOZ]

America, what are you doing?

 

[jviggy43]

Trump's America. Or maybe this is just America with the curtain pulled back. Fucking ridiculous.

 

[Royce McCutcheon]

Crazy how spot on that is.

What

 

[Kettch]

I assume this is getting laughed out of court as well?

 

[OG Shaka Zulu]

Ayyyyy! This is a heavy, true quote.

 

[Occam]

 

[broncobuster]

Fairooz laughed after Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who was introducing Sessions, said the then-junior senator from Alabama's history of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented,"

I'm amazed others weren't laughing.

 

[Syriel]

I assume this is getting laughed out of court as well?

Trump admin is prosecuting it.

Snowflakes. Snowflakes everywhere!

 

[MrPing1000]

President Donald Trump received just 4.1 percent of the vote in the District of Columbia.

Well good luck DOJ.

 

[Kettch]

Trump admin is prosecuting it.

Snowflakes. Snowflakes everywhere!

They can't just pick their own judge though, right? I guess they were expecting her to take a deal, because I don't see how this can end with anything but embarrassment for Sessions.

 

[Blizzard]

I was about to jump and post this on Facebook, but I stopped for a minute and found it's unfortunately not an actual quote, like many such things. It's a pity because it's a great quote.

As far as I'm aware, the actual source is from https://books.google.com/books?id=N...Second Words: Selected Critical Prose&f=false

"'Why do men feel threatened by women?' I asked a male friend of mine. [...] 'I mean,' I said, 'men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster, strangle better, and they have on the average a lot more money and power.' 'They're afraid women will laugh at them,' he said.' 'Undercut their world view.' Then I asked some women students in a quickie poetry seminar I was giving, 'Why do women feel threatened by men?" 'They're afraid of being killed,' they said."

Maybe I should edit the image to remove the quotes and just post that.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Yo, this shit is frightening because the world is moving with baby steps in this direction.

Also, The Handmaid's Tale (the new tv show based on the book) is amazing. Anyone who has not checked it out yet should.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Where are all those staunch "freedom of speech" folks from the Ann Coulter thread? Funny how they're silent all of a sudden…

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Where are all those staunch "freedom of speech" folks from the Ann Coulter thread? Funny how they're silent all of a sudden…

They only care about freedom of hate speech.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Sessions committed perjury and she's on trial before him because of laughing.

Laughing is more a crime than perjury.

Right? I'm sure we should just continue to "wait and see" what this administration does right? Trump and his administration have mad it clear that those who undermine them by any slight are the enemy and they'll warp law, order and decency to destroy them while also protecting themselves while they commit heinous acts. I'm not going to continue to pussy foot around it, those who voted for Trump gave power to monsters and shame isn't enough. I only wish they were the only victims in the cross hairs of Session, Trump, Pence and Bannon rather than them and everyone else. And fuck Ivanka's "initiative". A woman is on the edge of paying for laughing at one of her dad's buddies while she's talking about hustling lemonade.

Where are all those staunch "freedom of speech" folks from the Ann Coulter thread? Funny how they're silent all of a sudden…

Or the Milo one. They never gave a fuck about the actual definition. Just that people stop "feeling superior" to their favorite "provocateur".

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

How was this case not thrown out of court?

 

[bebop242]

Yo, this shit is frightening because the world is moving with baby steps in this direction.

Also, The Handmaid's Tale (the new tv show based on the book) is amazing. Anyone who has not checked it out yet should.

I'm watching this tv show as well and recommend it. I wonder how ridiculous this show would have seemed if it came out like 5 years earlier.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Yo, motherfuckers better be out on the streets over this

 

[Incarmine]

I thought liberals were supposed to be the ones that are easily offended

This is so true. Liberals complain when something is actually threatening their interests and well being, like race, sexism, etc. Conservatives complain when others accuse them of doing the wrong thing. Their egos just can't deal with the notion that they might be wrong.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Yo, motherfuckers better be out on the streets over this

Can't have people complaining about blocked traffic or making people late for work though.

 

[Possumowner]

What the actual feck.How,why...

 

[Siegcram]

Where are all those staunch "freedom of speech" folks from the Ann Coulter thread? Funny how they're silent all of a sudden…

This is what I wanna know.

 

[cameron]

Needlessly petty and vindictive. The woman was escorted out of the room and that should have been the end of it. It'll be amusing if they try to use her past behaviour as an activist / protester against her, considering no fucks were given about Sessions' history during his hearing.

Jason Covert, one of the assistant U.S. attorneys trying the case, asked Officer Coronado on Monday whether the laughter was ”loud enough to draw your attention" or if she recalled ”seeing other people turning around." Coronado claimed she had seen other people turn around and later said Fairooz had been laughing ”very loudly."

Samuel Bogash, a lawyer representing Fairooz, showed a video of the audience laughing at another part of the hearing, when Sessions joked about disagreements with his wife. But Covert argued that it was appropriate for the audience to laugh when Sessions made a joke about his marriage but not when Shelby claimed Sessions had a long record of ”treating all Americans equally."

”Is that funny?" Covert asked Officer Coronado of Shelby's praise of Sessions. ”Is that a joke to you?" Coronado did not think it was.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...a93e4b05c3976810a3a?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

It is funny. It is a joke. A joke that warrants laughter due to the statement's absurdity.

Here's hoping the trial's coverage reiterates and signal boosts why Sessions is "controversial".

 

[Dynasty]

 

[mclem]

It is funny. It is a joke. A joke that warrants laughter due to the statement's absurdity.

Here's hoping the trial's coverage reiterates and signal boosts why Sessions is "controversial".

There's a fun bit of history from the UK about Rupert Allason, then an MP, and the satirical quiz show, Have I Got News For You:

Nothing illustrates the folly of a politician going to court over a joke better than last year's case involving Rupert Allason. When I was working on Have I Got News For You, we wrote a frankly rather weak joke about Allason which included the phrase "conniving little shit". He decided to sue Hat Trick productions because we called him "conniving". Presumably he did not contest the assertion that he was a little shit.

You might have thought a man with Rupert Allason's connections ought to be able to pull in some pretty impressive character witnesses. So who did he persuade to take the stand to defend his good name? His mum. Rupert's mum was on Rupert's side. And we thought a man with Allason's money would be able to afford the very best representation. So who did Mr Allason think would do the best job? Rupert Allason, of course. He was sadly mistaken.

One of the first rules of the courtroom is never ask a question that you do not already know the answer to. Allason sought to prove what sort of cad the producer was by asking if he ever did any work for charity. Colin Swash looked rather bemused but being the thoroughly decent chap he is, obligingly reeled off a rather impressive list of sponsored walks and Saturday mornings given over to shaking tins in the high street. It was then put to Allason that suing people was a bit of a hobby of his - that he issued writs hoping people would settle out of court and he would make a bit of money. Allason denied this. Cue the video of Rupert Allason's appearance on Clive Anderson Talk Back (another Hat Trick show). Rupert boasts: "Suing people is a bit of a hobby of mine ..." His case collapsed, and Allason slunk away having had it confirmed by a court of law that he was a conniving little shit, while Colin Swash signed a copy of the Have I Got News For You book for each member of the jury.

 

[FStubbs]

I'm sure the staunch defenders of free speech in the Republican Party and conservative media will jump to this woman's defense.

They are only in favor of free speech when it's their speech.

What a bunch of snowflakes.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Those laughs cut deeper than any knives

 

[Carpe Carnim]

This is what I wanna know.

Because they're craven cowards, lurking in these threads, waiting for the next Black kid to get shot so they can launch a homunculus load into the conversation.

It's sad, but there are no lack of fascist supporters on GAF, but they're wise enough not to try and be too overt with their boot-licking.

 

[jay]

Isn't disorderly conduct basically anything someone granted law enforcement power by the government doesn't like? There's a class action suit in NYC for people who were charged with it but had the cases thrown out because cops just charge people with it for no reason beyond power flexing.

 

[MarionCB]

I'm sure they thought this was just another person they could bully into accepting a plea deal, so Sessions could punish her but keep it quiet.

Good for Fairooz for standing up and going to trial. This is already a very successful protest; now many people will hear about what a petty, power-mad authoritarian Sessions is. It also publicises what she was laughing at, which is the idea Sessions treats everyone equally under the law, which is genuinely absurd. Punishing people for laughing is the tool of totalitarians. They hate people laughing at them!

I also find it difficult to believe a court will actually find her guilty, especially if there's a jury. It could be an interesting defence though--proving that what was said is funny because of its absurdity by dismantling Sessions with his history of racism. You could start with Coretta Scott King's letter.

As far as I'm aware, the actual source is from https://books.google.com/books?id=N...Second Words: Selected Critical Prose&f=false

"'Why do men feel threatened by women?' I asked a male friend of mine. [...] 'I mean,' I said, 'men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster, strangle better, and they have on the average a lot more money and power.' 'They're afraid women will laugh at them,' he said.' 'Undercut their world view.' Then I asked some women students in a quickie poetry seminar I was giving, 'Why do women feel threatened by men?" 'They're afraid of being killed,' they said."

Maybe I should edit the image to remove the quotes and just post that.

This is interesting. The quote comes from a Margaret Atwood book of essays in which she quotes other, anonymous people in order to phrase the concept presented. The image quote is also paraphrased. So does it count as a quote from her in a general sense? Certainly, she originally framed the reasoning and structure of the argument in the quote, but by using example quotes from people she interviewed. Can you quote a concept someone has presented, or should quotes only ever be literal statements from them?

 

[ClosingADoor]

This reads like some North Korea shit. On trial for laughter, what a world.