I realize that my opinion is affected by the fact that it’s trump that we’re talking about, but if his age didn’t stop him from committing the crime, it shouldn’t stop him from doing the time.
This is true. I’m reminded of Spandau Prison where Rudolf Hess was the only prisoner from 1966-1987.
It seems like Trump has already milked the US taxpayer for quite a pretty penny in modifying Mar-A-Lago as his official residence, as well as making acommodations for his secret service detail to reside there. I can think of one very good way for the federal government to recoup that investment.
No, I think I speak for the majority of Berliners when I say we don’t want him here. But if it is the only option, we’ll bite the bullet for the team. And if need be, we would gild the prison bars and even the toilet. And when he finally passes over we would smash the gilded bits to pieces and sell them for a profit, like we did with the remains of The Wall.
Hand written by tanTrump? The Secret Service would likely take dictation. He is a functional analphabet.
The Spandau option is probably the best one. Create a special unit within an existing prison that would keep Trump isolated from all the other prisoners. There already are units that keep prisoners physically separated from each other but those units have prisoners in close enough proximity that they can talk to each other and try to pass things from cell to cell. I would speculate that with a prisoner as high profile as Trump the government would seek to avoid even that minimal amount of interaction.
If Federal, would Trump be housed in a minimum, low, medium, high, or administrative security prison? If Georgia, would Trump be housed in a minimum, close, medium, or special mission level prison? (If I have the correct classifications).
What about Trump’s co-defendants? Would they be housed in the same facility? Would Trump be able to socialize with them? I imagine a special unit with secret servicemen in an adjoining cell, where screened visitors and convicts could interact with the ex-President if he wished.
As an aside, here’s a link to a set of fake AI images of Trump’s arrest, originally posted to twitter in March 2023 by investigative journalist Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat:
I think the chances of the Supreme Court freeing him are high enough that he wouldn’t be ordered into prison before exhausting appeals. So we are talking about a quite elderly man.
Hospital prison.
But what if he is jailed for contempt of court? I guess regular jail.
Was it me? I said on the 15th: “One maybe potential positive thing- if all these soft, well-off buttholes got put away, there would be the first real effort at prison reform in decades.”
I also give this a thumbs up. It is the biggest conceivable plus I see to having him jailed (given that punishment usually fails to do anything good).
Watergate figure Chuck Colson showed the way:
I don’t see Trump personally following in those footsteps. That’s especially true because of the bad idea of the Secret Service following him into prison, almost guaranteeing him special treatment and isolating him from the general low-security prison population. But maybe one of the other alleged conspirators will do a Colson.
Late to the party, just discovered this thread.
Assuming he’s convicted in the DC insurrection trial (95+% chance, given DOJ history), his lawyers then file an appeal.
Per DOJ rules, if Chutkan decides his appeal is weak, he is immediately remanded to custody, while awaiting the resolution of his appeal. If she decides his appeal has merit, then he is free on bond pending appeal.
Given his defense aired so far, and his substandard lawyers, his appeal will definitely be weak.
So… off to prison he goes.
I don’t think “custody” necessarily means “prison”. I think he sits around in Mar-A-Lago with an ankle bracelet he will gripe about being inhumane and hurting his bone spurs.
‘Custody’ means starting whatever sentence he’s been given by the jury. For attempting to overthrow the government, I doubt he’ll get house arrest. More like 10+ years.
No. It won’t be Mar-A-Lago, or any other house arrest scheme. It will be a federally-controlled facility. Even if they have to build a dedicated prison for him – which I don’t think they will – custodial and security concerns at someplace like Mar-A-Lago are huge. By comparison, the costs will be much reduced at a federal prison.
The Feds know how to house high profile criminals. Trump will be such a one. He may end up in administrative segregation (ad seg) for his own protection in a regular federal prison, or he may end up in a facility specially built to house him that takes into account the needs of his Secret Service detail. But he won’t be going “home.”
I’ll bet there are already people within the federal prison system who are already grappling with this issue and have some pretty good ideas about where Trump will be housed.
Nitpick. The judge sets the sentence in Federal Court (and most states). But I agree, it probably would not be home confinement.
I’m glad then if he does do time in an actual prison, even if it’s a Martha Stewart kind of place, where it’s not really pleasant but far from “hard time”.
Well, Camp David is already pretty secure. Build him a cottage out of bare concrete with built in steel furniture, and we’re done.
Maybe add a fenced-in yard where, when Biden’s grandchildren come by, we can shock Trump until he comes out, and the kids can throw peanuts at him.
Ah, even better! I had read that Chutkan was unlikely to give anything less than 10+ years prison time, that it would send the wrong message to get house arrest for insurrection. But I also read that it was a jury trial. Thanks for clarifying who determines the sentence!
One option I saw floated was an abandoned naval base in Jacksonville. He’d have his choice of bunks! 
This possibly sheds some light:
That’s why I said it wouldn’t be pleasant. The US doesn’t have comfy prisons. I mentioned Martha Stewart because I had read about where she served time. It wasn’t the harsh prison that comes to mind when people think about jail, but it’s also not like a vacation place. I’d hate to serve time there.
As your article suggests, it might depend on the sentence. I am not a lawyer or any kind of expert but I doubt Trump is facing over 100 years like Bernie Madoff (though for the severity of what he’s charged with I think it would be appropriate, just my opinion).
Agreed. If you’ve seen Orange is the New Black, that’s what some minimum security prisons are like. That’s where Michael Cohen was. He recounted rows of “cot cubicles”, but the bathrooms are separate, like in a college dorm. Average to crappy food. Frequent prisoner counts.
Obviously he would have his own cubicle, away from gen pop. I foresee the Secret Service agent on duty bringing him a tray from the cafeteria three times a day. No more McDonald’s hamberders.