On A Lighter Note
Realizing that most people probably don’t have a copy of the New York Penal Law handy [not a bad read, but it lack the plot of the Criminal Procedure Law], if the law enforcement official of the state of New York were interested in pursuing a charge against soon-to-be former governor Spitzer, they would go with that old favorite:
Title M – OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH AND MORALS
Article 230 – (230.00 – 230.40) PROSTITUTION OFFENSES
§ 230.04 Patronizing a prostitute in the third degree.
A person is guilty of patronizing a prostitute in the third degree when he or she patronizes a prostitute.
Patronizing a prostitute in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.
A class A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or not more than 1 year in jail. [Terms of 1 year or less are served in a local jail rather than a state prison.]
Technically both misdemeanors and felonies are classified as crimes in New York official proceedings. Words have specific meanings in the law. This is so the people who write laws don’t actually have to be able to write, as evidenced by the above example.
The case would be almost impossible to prove in a court without a lot more than the Feds have revealed, and I doubt a DA would bother.
The Federal case may be a bit of problem without proof of the prostitution claim, because the Feds seem to be dealing with the laws covering converting to cash that is then used illegally. They certainly didn’t seem to pursue Limbaugh and his drug purchases with large cash withdrawals, but he’s not a Democrat.
2 comments
What? no definition of “patronize”? 😈
I doubt Spitzer will be convicted. But his political career is clearly over. How could he not see how likely it was that he would be caught, once he started transferring funds from his bank account? That was just asking for trouble. Of all the adjectives I would have applied to Spitzer before this happened, “foolish” was not among them. But he was just that… very, very foolish.
Ultimately, his primary crime was Being Successful While Democratic. IOKIYAR.
It just doesn’t make any sense that he wouldn’t realize that large cash transactions would raise flags. He used it often enough in his investigations.