After evading jail time for killing a man with his car, South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) was impeached on Tuesday.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1412851
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1412851
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Prosecutors ultimately charged Ravnsborg with three traffic misdemeanors, which got dropped down to two after the attorney general accepted a plea deal in which he pleaded no contest to changing lanes illegally and using a phone while driving.
The judge ordered him to pay $1,000 in fines plus $3,742 in court fees.
Penalty for killing a man. Another example of white man’s justice. Many black young men have been executed on the spot for much less than that.
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A 36-31 vote to impeach doesn’t speak well to getting a two-thirds majority to convict in the senate trial, assuming that’s the threshold for conviction (article could tell us, but it doesn’t).
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I wish this impeachment would follow what happened in Illinois when Governor Whatshisname tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat – the only person in the Illinois State Senate who voted to NOT remove him was some close relative, either by blood or marriage.
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But there is no distinguishing between the parties. Dem vote in the same situation would have been maybe 37-30, maybe 35-32. Same difference! / s
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South Dakota sounds like a shithole country.
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We all laughed at the hyperbole when TFG boasted he could shoot a pedestrian in the middle of 5th Avenue without repercussions from his supporters. It now appears that to at least 31 Republicans, killing someone really isn’t a reason to disqualify a party member from office.
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Nor is trying to cover it up, nor even doing so while being the attorney general.
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Shithole state with the population of a medium sized city, but they get two senators, just like california, new york, and texas.
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Some envelope math: Twelve hours later, an adult male has metabolized up to about twelve drinks. This bastard could have drunk three-fourths of a bottle of booze right in the damn car and been OK 12 hours after the incident. And frankly I don’t see how a guy who isn’t plastered or panicked at what he’s done because he was texting or whatever just drives away. Smell test here. Four thousand bucks. SMH
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Just to emphasize, 31 Republicans voted to say the following was not impeachable to them:
Shocking details of the crash emerged from the investigation, including the discovery of Boever’s glasses inside Ravnsborg’s car, leading investigators to believe the pedestrian’s face had gone through the windshield.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol provided even more grisly details of the investigation last week, telling lawmakers that Ravnsborg’s car was completely on the highway shoulder, that Boever’s body remained stuck to the front fender of the car for about 125 feet after the attorney general hit him and that Boever’s leg had been severed.
This guy died a gruesome death and Ravnsborg has never paid even close to a penalty appropriate to this type of situation.
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My question as well.
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“Ravnsborg” now will be added to the dictionary:
Noun
Definition
-
a person who kills another then lies, covers up, minimizes, and avoids prosecution for the murder
-
a murderer so far removed from humanity he thinks he should retain his job as top law-enforcement official in South Dakota
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Gosh. I know that TPM likes to find unflattering photos of right-wingers that they do not like, but the headline photo of this guy looks like he is “not right” is so many ways. One presumes he had enough brainpower to get through law school, but I have seen cokeheads who have more presence.
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Yep, that’s what I’ve thought from the beginning. The only reason to cover this up is that he was texting/talking on the phone or impaired or both. If he was sober and it was truly an accident he wouldn’t have fled the scene and returned the next day to report the accident. That’s what people do when they’re trying to avoid a DUI.
Also, here’s the text from South Dakota’s Constitution:
All impeachments shall be tried by the senate. When sitting for that purpose the senators shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected. When the Governor or lieutenant governor is on trial the presiding judge of the Supreme Court shall preside.
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Just a nit, he didn’t flee the scene (couldn’t, in that car). He called up the local sherriff, and the two of them made a show of looking for the “deer”, somehow at night didn’t notice the victim’s flashlight which was still on 12 hours later, and then Ravnsborg drove himself home in a loaner car.
The local sherriff has since conveniently died. I hope the North Dakota investigators got some admissible statements from him.
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Good old Rod Blagojevich. What a corrupt, narcissistic piece of shit he was, too. The icing on the cake here is that Trump commuted the remainder of his sentence before leaving office!
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Hey, could have been worse. He could have been looking at Politico …
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Apparently in South Dakota this is not a matter of right vs wrong … it is simply dithering about how much reprehensible callous disregard for life is acceptable in an AG for SD.
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Yeah, that’s true, but that sounds about like he called a buddy and said, “I’m in a big pickle, can you come get me?” There’s no way an experienced member of law enforcement would not know he hit a person.
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