A judge said the penalty violated the eighth amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

A concurring opinion from Justice Peter Moulton said that the lower “court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Why wasn’t this applied to Alex Jones??

The penalty not the behavior.

Completely different fact pattern and tort. Alex Jones was found to have caused harm.

This Appellate Court said Trump caused no harm to anchor the damages/penalty to.

This Appellate Court also indicated that the statute used against Trump to create liability did not apply to his behavior as the statute was designed to protect consumers not banks. So far, they have not ruled as such. Said indications are dicta, but we need to take notice.

The appeal before this Court is technically still on going as they have only adjudicated Trump’s monetary penalty for now.

There is no question defamation protects those Jones defamed. It is a common law tort not based on statute.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
The penalty not the behavior.

Penalty should be a multiple of losses to named victims. 5x? 10x? X*0 is zero

This Appellate Court agrees. The body agrees no victims as no one was harmed. Therefore, no monetary punitive and compensatory damages to award.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
The penalty not the behavior.

Completely different fact pattern and tort. Alex Jones was found to have caused harm.

This Appellate Court said Trump caused no harm to anchor the damages/penalty to.

This Appellate Court also indicated that the statute used against Trump to create liability did not apply to his behavior as the statute was designed to protect consumers not banks. So far, they have not ruled as such. Said indications are dicta, but we need to take notice.

The appeal before this Court is technically still on going as they have only adjudicated Trump’s monetary penalty for now.

There is no question defamation protects those Jones defamed. It is a common law tort not based on statute.

Total, legal, bullshit!

Oh, faction leader Jeffries has a new term for lawfare
"Agressive enforcement "

Cool
Game on

Perfectly describes America now

Do you ever get the feeling you’re watching the Fall of Rome v.2.0?

What an absolute train wreck, and it can only get worse.

quote:

This Appellate Court said Trump caused no harm to anchor the damages/penalty to.

What about harm to the taxpayers, who likely had to pay more because of the defendant's fraud?

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:

quote:

This Appellate Court said Trump caused no harm to anchor the damages/penalty to.

What about harm to the taxpayers, who likely had to pay more because of the defendant's fraud?

Your quote ahead, the courts ruling , should explain it you. Reading is hard on elitists

The taxpayers expense was caused solely by the Democrat machine that prosecuted the stupid case.

Now, the AG will soon be facing the glass house syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:

quote:

This Appellate Court said Trump caused no harm to anchor the damages/penalty to.

What about harm to the taxpayers, who likely had to pay more because of the defendant's fraud?

Your quote ahead, the courts ruling , should explain it you. Reading is hard on elitists

Excerpt from the article in the OP:

As a whole, the appeals court ultimately affirmed the judgment from Engoron, but the panel of five judges was divided, with three separate opinions, including partial dissents. The court also allowed a path forward for another appeal before New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

James said her office would pursue an appeal and emphasized the court’s decision to uphold Engoron’s judgment.

“The First Department today affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud,” she said in a statement on X.
“The court upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers’ ability to do business in New York.”

That was argued. This appellate court said no as to damages.

The conduct was upheld as a violation.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
A judge said the penalty violated the eighth amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

A concurring opinion from Justice Peter Moulton said that the lower “court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

It's hard to argue to the contrary. Over-reached.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/appe...d/story?id=124848691

Appeals court throws out Trump's $454 million civil fraud judgment
A judge ruled last year that Trump inflated his worth to secure better loans.

ByAaron Katersky, Peter Charalambous, and Steven Portnoy
August 21, 2025, 5:56 PM

In a 323-page opinion, all five judges in the Appellate Division's First Department agreed that the half-billion-dollar penalty imposed on Trump should be thrown out.

Two of the judges said Trump was properly held liable for business fraud, but the fine was excessive. Two of the judges said the trial court was wrong to decide Trump committed fraud and the case should be retried -- nonetheless, those two judges said they joined the decision "with great reluctance" to allow the case to proceed on appeal to the state's highest court.

"The documentary evidence supports Supreme Court's conclusion that the Attorney General made a prima facie showing that each defendant participated in the fraudulent scheme," the opinion said. "The trial record is also replete with evidence supporting the court's determination that the individual defendants had the requisite intent to defraud, a necessary element of each Penal Law claim."

After a three-month civil trial last year, New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for committing a decade of business fraud by inflating his net worth to secure better business deals.

In his written decision, Engoron said that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in frauds that "leap off the page and shock the conscience" including wrongly claiming that Trump's penthouse was three times its actual size and valuing his Mar-a-Lago estate as a personal residence, rather than a social club.

"Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again," Engoron wrote, claiming that Trump and his co-defendants were "incapable of admitting the error of their ways."