Paul Pelosi, 82, a wealthy San Francisco real estate investor and husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is paying a price for driving impaired and injuring another driver.
Pelosi crashed his late-model Porsche into an SUV while driving after dark in California’s wine country on May 28, 2022. The 48-year-old driver of the other vehicle suffered arm and shoulder injuries (read story here).
Pelosi blew .082, just over the legal limit. Over .08 is presumptive impairment; a cop can cite a driver for DUI who blows less than .08 if the driver is impaired, so blood alcohol level isn’t a black-and-white determinant of guilt or innocence. Over .08, though, you’re dead in the water. Pelosi pleaded guilty and went to court for sentencing.
This wasn’t the first time he hurt someone with bad driving. When he was 16, he flipped a sports car, and killed his brother (read about that here). Charged with “misdemeanor manslaughter” (I didn’t know there is such a crime), he was “exonerated by a coroner’s jury.”
This time, he didn’t get off, despite his wealth and social prominence. He spent 2 more days in jail after being arrested, and the judge sentenced him to an additional 2 days in jail. He also was fined $7,000, which is pocket change for someone worth over $100 million; but in addition, he got 3 years of probation, has to attend driving classes, and will have an interlock on his car.
Egalitarianism is deeply ingrained in American psyches, and people resent prominent individuals getting special treatment when they break the law. Of course, the ideal of “equal treatment under the law” and the reality are two different things; nobody gets stopped for “driving while white,” and connected individuals often do get away with more, including drunk driving (e.g., Ted Kennedy).
That’s part of why this is a news story, and it matters that Pelosi face consequences for his irresponsible behavior. But there’s far more behind the torrent of abuse that fell on Napa County workers after Pelosi’s arrest. With the likes of Don Trump Jr. and Lauren Boebert spreading false claims that he wouldn’t be prosecuted (see story here), the county prosecutor’s office received thousands of death threats, her 80 employees were told they would “hang from trees,” and callers hoped their families would die in drunk driving accidents (see story here and video below).
They’re not upholding any American ideal. This same mob made similar threats against FBI agents and their families after the FBI served a search warrant for national security documents Trump illegally stashed at his Florida home. The only thing consistent about their outrage is it’s consistently partisan (i.e., Democrats are evil, and Trump is a persecuted victim of liberal witch hunts). Don’t hope to reason with people can’t get basic facts straight, embrace lies and wild conspiracy theories, and are violent and threatening.
Paul Pelosi was prosecuted because he deserved to be, shouldn’t have gotten off because of who he is, and didn’t. The dregs of society calling for his head had nothing to do with it. This was the system working the way it’s supposed to.
What I’d like to see next is a police task force set up to hunt down, arrest, and prosecute those who threatened the Napa County employees. They should serve jail time, too. Like drunk driving, this behavior is harmful and a social pestilence, and needs to be discouraged by all available means.