Life imitating sitcom

August 14, 2024 6:06 AM

Man With Suspended License Joins Court Zoom Call While Driving - And everyone plays their part with perfect comedic timing. The same judge, Cedric Simpson, later hands out repeated three-month jail terms every time a defendant swears at him, and the defendant also displays impeccable comedic sensibilities. Is the influence of comedy shows on American life really this extensive?
posted by mokey (9 comments total)

Certainly there's a strong influence but it's unclear what direction it's being exerted in (see also: all the jokes about "the writers" when weird shit happens in real life).
posted by penduluum at 6:16 AM on August 14

The backstory there is not what you think and a lot of people owe Corey Harris an apology.

"When asked what he was thinking calling into the virtual hearing while driving, he explained that his wife needed to get to the hospital and that was all he was concerned with.

“What was I thinking? I was thinking about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” Harris said. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”

Then the 44-year-old dropped the bombshell that added a layer to his story folks likely hadn’t considered: his license shouldn’t have been suspended in the first place."

[...]

Secretary of State records show Harris’ license was first suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support in Saginaw County.

Then in 2022, court records show that a judge rescinded that suspension, allowing Harris to drive again. But it appears that information never got to the Secretary of State where even as of Thursday afternoon, Harris’ license is still listed as suspended — the same records police and the judge were going by.

So, comedy in the sense that Brazil was a comedy. Harris had every reason to believe that he was in the right because he was.
posted by mhoye at 6:20 AM on August 14 [13 favorites]

yt was throwing these at me earlier this summer, there's like 4 judges that have online fanclubs, 3 in Texas, eg: Court motion: San Antonio judge’s chatty social media followers are threatening fair trials

Actually learned a lot of basic court procedure just watching these at least.
posted by torokunai at 6:21 AM on August 14

Three month jail terms for language. That is, for folks already on the edge, just ruinous. And for what, failing to maintain decorum in a process that has absolutely farcical penalties for prosecutors and cops not respecting the most basic, fundamental protections for defendants. If they face penalties of any kind.
posted by Slackermagee at 6:21 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]

Viral story about viral bogus story was also bogus
posted by lalochezia at 6:22 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]

mhoye, Interesting! Thanks.
posted by mokey at 6:22 AM on August 14

Yeah, this isn't a funny story at all, but an incredibly horrible one in which a black man was wrongly imprisoned and then widely mocked nationally due to a clerical error. I hope you will read the real story and ask the mods to take this down. It's not funny.
posted by Toddles at 6:24 AM on August 14 [4 favorites]

Mods, please delete this post, it seems rather disrespectful given the context, thanks.
posted by mokey at 6:30 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]

This is not the best of the web
posted by The River Ivel at 6:33 AM on August 14