# Is Tom DeLay Going to Jail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533 "2004-04-12T00:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/21 "2010-04-30T00:53:11Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [After 8 years, DeLay case could be headed to trial](http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/after-8-years-delay-case-could-be-headed-641231.html) > So maybe Tom _is_ going to jail after all! Where he will be Dancing with the Bars. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/22 "2010-04-30T00:58:01Z")
Oh, man was that bad! Seriously bad. You’d better duck out the back, I’ll try and stall them… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/23 "2010-04-30T01:13:28Z")
I can not believe that defense was bought by the court. It was not money laundering because it was checks instead of cash. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/24 "2010-04-30T01:31:07Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I can not believe that defense was bought by the court. It was not money laundering because it was checks instead of cash. It’s not quite as crazy as it sounds. A key purpose oif the money laundering laws is to forbid large amounts of cash with no clear ancestry from entering the commerce stream. Checks, which show their ancestry perfectly, are not the problem that cash is. Indeed, the ease in which the prosecutors can show what money flowed where is due to the fact that checks were used. Of course, the legislature probably intended to cover checks as well as cash, so the above is not an argument I’d want to defend tooth and nail. But it’s not insane. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/25 "2010-04-30T07:03:40Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Molly Ivins wrote that article, and she can spew out the biased crapola, so be careful… > > I’m a native Texan, although from far away from Delay’s district, and here’s my take on it. Corporations can’t contribute to candidates in Texas, but they can to PACs. There are allegations that the PACs helped specific candidates. It wasn’t clear to me that this is illegal, although I can see it would be in the gray area of the law. But it’s really complicated, attested to by the fact that Molly didn’t actually spell it out, only giving a reference to it. Maybe this kind of stuff would get an indictment from a grand jury, but it’s sure not the kind of scandalous thing that captures voters’ attentions and gets them mad. The link no longer goes to the referenced article, but I doubt Molly wrote it. She died in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/26 "2010-04-30T07:09:09Z")
The link is from 2004. I did a double-take when post #8 started out, “As long as Bush remains in power . . .” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/27 "2010-04-30T07:14:31Z")
Odd. Does anybody else hear chuckling? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/28 "2010-04-30T21:31:14Z")
Aside from being among the oldest zombies I’ve encountered, this thread seems to be less of a debate and more of either IMHO cheering or a Pit RO. I’m closing it. If someone wishes to start a new thread, they are welcome to do so, but either place it in another (appropriate) forum or come up with an actual debate, please. [/Modding] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533.md?page=1)