Strong Words From Poynter About The Body-Slamming Politician

Written by James Warren for Poynter this morning.

No jail time for thug politician

So Greg Gianforte, Wyoming’s congressman-elect cum thug, “pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of misdemeanor assault after body-slamming a reporter from The Guardian on the eve of Gianforte’s election to the U.S. House” and got a six-month deferred sentence and no jail time.

Lucky guy. If only he’d inhaled nail polish remover on a Cheyenne street corner! He’d be in bigger trouble than merely bashing bespectacled Ben Jacobs.

For starters, “According to Whitney Bermes, a reporter for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the judge initially gave Gianforte four days in jail, where under the terms of a jail work program he would be able to spend two of those days working.” (Montana Public Radio)

But then:

“After consulting with prosecution and defense lawyers, the judge changed the initial sentence minutes later, Bermes reported: ‘NO jail time for Gianforte. But has to do 40 hours of community service, 20 hours anger management.'”

Well, my perusal of the vagaries of Wyoming law came across this legal treatise that was urging a variety of reforms. Along the way, it informed:

“Wyoming law criminalizes inhaling nail polish remover and deodorant. A Peeping Tom, if prosecuted, will be a felon. It is a misdemeanor offense to ski on a snow slope posted ‘closed.'”

“Charging a person a fee to use the toilet in Wyoming is a crime. If school administrators fail to conduct a fire drill once a month they are subject to a sentence in county jail for not less than three nor more than six months.”

Poor Jacobs. He’d been better off if Gianforte had charged him 50 cents for taking a pee in his campaign office, rather than the candidate taking umbrage at a benign healthcare question in Bozeman.

Posted by Tim Morrissey