• Justice@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    4 months ago

    It won't affect them, sure

    But the actual point of these laws (in theory) is less about punishing someone for bad behavior and more about compensation or restitution for harm done to the plaintiff. It's just expressed in terms of currency or other compensation.

    Basically like "Elon's targeted harassment has reduced the plaintiff's marketability for sponsorships and future post-career coaching opportunities..." stuff like that. And if he's found liable (or guilty, dunno how France words this stuff) he has to compensate for that measurable harm caused over a lifetime.

    I'm not trying to be overly annoying, but it is one of those things I think people run away with like "oh time for the courts to punish them!" and because billionaires break the system due to the magnitude of their wealth in comparison to "reasonable" damages awards, it's always going to be disappointing if the expectation is "finally he'll learn to shut up!" Because he won't. Not under the current system. However, if the system works correctly, an innocent person can get something approaching justice on their end in financial terms.