Jenny wins; Sanford admits to being in contempt

Of his divorce decree, that is:

By BRUCE SMITH — Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Newly elected Congressman Mark Sanford and his ex-wife have settled a complaint that said he was at her home without her permission in violation of their divorce agreement….

Under the settlement, Sanford admits he was in contempt of the divorce decree then and on previous occasions. The judge agreed to withhold sentencing Sanford as long as he complies with the provision in their divorce settlement that he not enter his ex-wife’s Sullivans Island, S.C., home without her permission.

Sanford also agreed to pay her $5,000 in fees and court costs…

As to the matter of his showing contempt for the people of the 1st District, and them just eating it up, that’s another story.

He’s all yours, Lowcountry, and welcome to him.

24 thoughts on “Jenny wins; Sanford admits to being in contempt

  1. Brad Warthen Post author

    This story breaking the day AFTER it’s too late for people to vote against him is classic Sanford timing.

    In 2006, he vetoed the entire state budget just hours after it was too late for anyone to punish him by voting for Oscar Lovelace in the primary.

    He doesn’t like for the voters to be overburdened with information…

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      More specifically, quoting from my column at the time:

      Consider this sequence: The governor spent the last days of the primary campaign ignoring his opponent, and running against the General Assembly. His beef was that legislators did not break precedent and stay in town so that he could give them his vetoes, so their votes to sustain or override would be there before the voters on election day. He pontificated mightily on their failure to be accountable.
      Then, when they chose instead to go home and actually face the voters before election day instead of doing his bidding, he took full advantage of the extra time that gave him. He waited until after the polls were closed and the votes counted, and he was safely renominated, before dropping his Big One. He had to do it by midnight that night, so he did it between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. And so Republican primary voters had no opportunity to hold him accountable for what he did with his veto power.
      I thought Mark Sanford was better than this. I really did. Now I don’t.

  2. Mark Stewart

    Actually, looks like Jenny lost with regard to what she really wanted.

    Can’t help thinking that this whole situation is saddest not for the voters of District 1, nor for the residents of South Carolina, but for their children. Those four kids need to go board at a prep school. Using your children as a prop, weapon, tool, etc. is about the most despicable thing one can do.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      I don’t know. I sort of think she really wanted him to keep his a__ off her property. But maybe I’m being too literal-minded.

      1. Kathryn Fenner

        I agree, Brad. I mean, could any reasonable person abide his creepy presence?

        Sending the boys to boarding school is a Solomonic solution. Jenny seems like a decent parent, from my significant remove.

        1. Mark Stewart

          I might agree except for the “bombshell” nature of her disclosure of the contempt filing. This just sounds like endless spite and retribution. Clearly he’s a jerk, but that just seems to be the beginning of her wrath.

        2. Steven Davis II

          “could any reasonable person abide his creepy presence?”

          Or hers?

  3. Doug Ross

    One school of thought is that Jenny actually settled once she couldn’t keep cameras out of the courtroom.

      1. Mark Stewart

        Which leads one to wonder what this was all about, really? (I know the short, surface answer is trespass, but that just doesn’t seem to be at the heart of this dysfunctional wrangling.)

        I can’t get the image of the young son standing stricken looking on stage at the primary win out of my mind. Clearly there is a lot going on in this family as far as relationships and communication go; and none of it looks good from the outside.

  4. Karen McLeod

    Brad, I think that you’re ascribing too much to his intellect and/or concern. He’s so narcissistic that he doesn’t see any problems with anything he does.

  5. Bryan Caskey

    Y’all are really overanalyzing this. A judge was going to find him in contempt. As I said in a comment a week or so ago, it’s an open and shut case of contempt of court. He admitted to a finding rather than going before a judge and litigating an issue that can’t be disputed.

    The only question in my mind was how much attorneys’ fees he would be made to pay. There was zero chance a Judge was going to do anything other than make him pay attorneys fees. He wrote a check for $5k to Jenny for her lawyer’s fees, and that’s that.

    They simply agreed to do what was going to happen anyway.

    On an unrelated note, I got the snot kicked out of me in Family Court today. Serves me right for getting affirmed 3-0 on another case from the Court of Appeals yesterday.

    1. Mark Stewart

      Not sure anyone would call it justice, Bryan, when the only outcome is an attorney gets paid by one party instead of another…

      Sounds more like the system rolling on…

      1. Kathryn Fenner

        What do you think justice would look like?

        The Court has to decide whether any remedy it has at hand is better than the status quo. What remedy would you have preferred?

        1. Mark Stewart

          I don’t know, Kathryn. It is a very good question. I do not think anyone outside of the Sanford’s and their attorneys have any idea what this was really ALL about. So it’s hard to say.

          I would like them both to act in the best interests of their children; but no court can force them to do that.

        2. Brad Warthen Post author

          That’s not the only remedy she got. She got reinforcement of what she wants, which is for him to stay out of her house…

          1. Kathryn Fenner

            And the right to use his now-admitted trespassing against him if/when he doesn’t.

      2. Bryan Caskey

        Meh, Sanford probably writes a $5,000 check like you and I write a $5 check. He could care less. Heck, it would have been cheaper if he had TAKEN his son to the Super Bowl.

          1. Kathryn Fenner

            I think Mark Sanford is sweating blood having to write such a check. He gave Jenny a $25 bike for Christmas and birthday prez one year. He is a miser!

  6. Ralph Hightower

    Yea! Another criminal in Congress! Keep it classy Sanford. BTW, there’s the Tidal Basin.

    Wilbur Mills and Fanny Fox.

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