The actual lawyers can chime in, but I would assume being sanctioned is a much bigger deal than the money. Either way, it’s funny to see the same fools do the same things and face the same consequences over and over again, and seemingly learn nothing.
If you aren’t worried about the reputational hit of trying to assist your client illegally steal an election, you probably aren’t going to get too worked up over a $2000 fine.
A lawyer can represent some pretty reprehensible people that have done some truly terrible things without sacrificing his/her reputation, principles and ethics.
The reputation hit would be far worse than that token assessment, especially when the matter will likely also be the subject of a Bar referral.
As much as I hate this election denial movement, I think we need to be very careful about how much we allow the state to determine how it can punish people for bringing failed lawsuits against it. I don’t how what Lake actually believes in her heart, but I certainly don’t want DeSantis able to fine Disney or anyone for frivolous lawsuits against the state.
Judges are pretty good about sniffing out frivolous lawsuits. Imposing sanctions is a valuable tool in limiting how often they are filed. If dismissal was the only remedy, the filing of these bullshit lawsuits would increase exponentially.
Thank you. I believe all of what you say, but I am a bit worried when the defendant is the state itself that this is a tool that could be used by a partisan court to chill dissent. I think this particular outcome might be an exemplar of the good judgement of which you speak, as it identifies and labels the suit as frivolous, while at the same time declining to put an exorbitant penalty on top of that declaration.
Lake tried to steal her election but lost. TFG created the monster that Lake is. They are traitors. Pres, attorneys, GOP deniers. Try them, if guilty execute them
Her last appeal will be heard Friday. The fast track says to me the judge has his mind fairly made up, and given his previous ruling this will end quickly. But maybe the lawyers here feel differently? Kari Lake's Arizona election challenge on signatures set for hearing
Agreed why treat sedition differently than treason especially when they’re elected to public office. If guilty swing them from a tree or face a firing squad (goes for those on the left too). Whichever they prefer. Show me where I’m wrong…
Where she and all the other election deniers are now. Six months after midterm losses, election deniers mount new efforts
Apparently her latest trial isn't going well... Lake's "star witness", who was a ballot checker, was supposed to spin a tail of untrained poll workers rushing through ballot boxes and not checking signatures while their bosses looked the other way. Instead, she torpedoed her case, talking at length about all the training they had to go through and how there were multiple levels of signature verification and how subpar signature checkers were fired ... Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake put forward a "star witness" at Wednesday's trial in which she is seeking to throw Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who defeated her in the 2022 midterm election, out of office on grounds of supposed election fraud. The only problem, wrote Laurie Roberts for The Arizona Republic, is that her witness actually torpedoed her case. "Her attorney, Kurt Olsen, told the judge he’d be presenting evidence that Maricopa County didn’t verify the voter signatures on 'hundreds of thousands' of early ballots, instead hiring signature reviewers who just went through the motions while the county looked on," wrote Roberts. As proof, he called signature reviewer Jacqueline Onigkeit, who "spent more than an hour explaining the lengths to which county went to verify signatures — the weeklong training of workers, the two shifts of level one reviewers, three levels of signature review, the admonition to get it right." "'They (supervisors) told us, ‘You need to be very cautious. You need to pay attention to what you’re doing and remember that whatever you reject or approve, you can be called in to testify,’' Onigkeit testified," said the report. "As a witness for the defense, Onigkeit was dynamite. The problem is, she was supposed to be the star witness for Lake." Kari Lake humiliated as her 'star witness' instead proves Arizona elections were secure: columnist (msn.com)
More detailed review linked here. Lake’s lawyers made the claim that “no signatures were verified” … as in zero… and the judge told him upfront that he would hold him to that and needed to prove it if he wanted to win. So far, they have called two “whistleblowers” who made it clear that signature verification was going on, workers were being watched to make sure they were not rushing, no pressure was put on the checkers to accept the signatures, etc… The second “whistleblower’s” main concern seems to be that he thought the review finished too quickly based on the number of workers he saw, but seemed to be unaware there were other locations doing signature checks… This is a joke…. Kari Lake's last gasp election trial isn't going so well
Thought they were also going to provide evidence that some of the machines weren’t certified properly? Did that happen?
No. The Judge ruled pre-trial that the only challenge on trial is the lack of signature verification. Machine issues were already denied. And considering how poorly today went for Lake, the defense could move to dismiss and it might get granted.
