Earlier today, Nell Minow, my fellow co-head of the Apology Institute of America, sent me a Facebook posting about a profoundly weak non-apology from a British politician over a deeply racist comment she made. It's my turn to return the favor. This just in from the lawyers of Roger Stone who today submitted a court filing that apologized for his Instagram post today that trashed the ethics and threatened the life of the judge of his pending trial.
Looking through our AIA manual's guidelines for "Meaningful Apologies," I'm wondering how socially -- and legally -- substantive a one-sentence "Gee, I'm sorry" is when you've trashed and threatened the life of the sitting judge for your upcoming trial, and further how heartfelt when you have someone else say it for you... Especially since it doesn't even include the classic, "If I offended the judge..." or even "This isn't who I am" (which is particularly problematic since it is exactly who Roger Stone has spent a career trying to make clear in as public a way as possible that it is precisely who he is). Especially since you already have a gag order on you ordered for your past actions by this same judge. By the way, to be clear, being "legally substantive" is not generally a condition that Ms. Minow and I look to for grading the quality of an apology. But when an apology is offered for threatening the life of the judge for your upcoming trial (not to mention slamming her work and ethics), and your lawyers feel obligated to file a court brief in response, then the little-known and even-more rarely used "legal" codicil does kick in. Roger Stone did include his own two-sentence P.S. to his lawyers' filing, basically saying, "What they said," noting that he never meant to disrespect the court. Although it's impossible to read his original comments along with that photo as anything but total, sneering and unadorned disrespect. Usually, at a bare minimum, throwing oneself prostrate before the court to beg for mercy is considered a good place to start before even getting into what you're apologizing for and why. And secondly, having a letter from your doctor to support the explanation of your condition requiring the plea is pretty much thought to be highly-valuable to present to the judge, as well. A one-sentence "Gee, I'm sorry" from your lawyer and your own two-sentence, "Ditto, sort of," is the equivalent of putting paint on the debris of a Vegas casino after it's been imploded and saying, "Ah, there, it's back to its old self now!! All's well." And if you simply are so craven that you can't manage any of that or actually apologize in any way yourself, then trying "That wasn't me, your honor, but my evil twin" is probably better as apologies go than having someone else say "Gee, I'm sorry" for you.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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