# Florida Man charged with stealing Speaker's podium **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 10, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157 "2021-01-10T02:28:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/161 "2022-02-27T19:43:12Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Only 75 days! I thought that 75 days in the jug was pretty steep, actually, for an extended trespass that did no physical harm. May be a difference in our criminal law cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/162 "2022-02-27T20:51:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I thought that 75 days in the jug was pretty steep, actually, for an extended trespass that did no physical harm. May be a difference in our criminal law cultures. He was part of a violent armed invasion of the seat of National government. Prior to this I would have assumed that no one who participated would get less than 10 years in prison. I suspect that had this been a left-wing insurrection instead of a right-wing one, none of these people would be seeing sunlight ever again. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/163 "2022-02-28T01:09:54Z")
Technically a podium is a raised platform upon which one stands, and a lecturn is a raised desk, behind which one stands, and upon which one places books or papers from which to read, from behind the aforesaid. But I have an English teacher parent, and apparently for the USA the meanings of podium, lecturn and even pulpit have become intertwined.       Apologies for the needlessly technical Queen’s English above! ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/164 "2022-02-28T02:06:23Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He was part of a violent armed invasion of the seat of National government. Prior to this I would have assumed that no one who participated would get less than 10 years in prison. I suspect that had this been a left-wing insurrection instead of a right-wing one, none of these people would be seeing sunlight ever again. It might be worth noting that Trump and several right wing talking heads wanted people to receive VERY long sentences for defacing statues of Confederate, Slave Holding individuals (I thought it was 20 years but might have been _only_ ten years). If a decade or two can be sentenced for civil disobedience in a park – then yes, once you disrupt a joint session of congress while they are conducting MAJOR national business, the sentence should be at least that much. I assure you that if the crowd had all been people of color the sentences would be different. (And I say that as an umpteenth generation Western European American citizen.) [And here is a time when Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havelland can teach us a thing or two: **Lady Marion Fitzswalter** : “And one of those men was a Norman? **Robin Hood** : Norman or Saxon, what does that matter? It is injustice I hate- not the Normans.”] It is at about 2:20 here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ajkFbLl_T7g/maxresdefault.jpg "Robin Hood (1938)- Maid Marion visits Robin Hood") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajkFbLl_T7g) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/165 "2022-02-28T02:47:16Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > But I have an English teacher parent, and apparently for the USA the meanings of podium, lecturn and even pulpit have become intertwined. Pssst: we still don’t spell “lectern” with a “u”, though. ;p ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/166 "2022-02-28T03:18:09Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Apologies for the needlessly technical Queen’s English above! > [@Kimstu](#): > > Pssst: we still don’t spell “lectern” with a “u”, though. ;p   Maybe the Queen does? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157/167 "2022-02-28T04:24:11Z")
Cut the lady a break. After all, she is 95 years old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-man-charged-with-stealing-speakers-podium/930157.md?page=8)