Judge orders D’Souza to undergo more psychological evaluation.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: Conservative writer and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza is not going to be let off easy on breaking campaign finance laws: after doing community service for eight months as part of his probation deal, the India-born D’Souza may have thought that it would end the matter. But a federal judge has clarified that D’Souza has to do more such work for the entire five years, for a total of 1,600 more hours in four years. D’Souza also was ordered by the judge to undergo more psychological evaluation.
D’Souza pleaded guilty last year to illegally giving $20,000 in political contributions through ‘straw donors’ for his former college mate and Republican Wendy Long’s failed 2012 bid to defeat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), reported the New York Post.Follow @ambazaarmag
For those violations, D’Souza was sentenced in September to eight months in a work-release center, five years of probation, $30,000 fine and community service.
On May 31, he was released from nightly detention at a work-release center in San Diego after eight months, reported WND. During that time, in fulfillment of his community service requirement, he taught English once a week to Spanish-speaking applicants for American citizenship.
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In his eight months of nightly confinement, he found time to sign a contract with HarperCollins and begin writing a new book to follow his 2014 New York Times bestseller, “America.” He also started the process of financing his next feature film, scheduled for the 2016 presidential campaign. And he’s designed a sequel to his highly profitable 2014 feature film, “America: Imagine the World Without Her.”
The judge, Richard Berman, also read aloud a report from a court-appointed psychologist who called D’Souza “arrogant” and “intolerant of others’ feelings.”
“We’re talking about five years of eight hours a week? … This is a very serious impediment to obtaining full-time employment because you miss one day of work a week,” D’Souza’s attorney Ben Brafman said in the conference inside Berman’s robing room, as D’Souza listened in silently via speakerphone, reported the Post.
“In my mind it was never contemplated that the eight hours only applied to the period of home confinement,” Berman said, later reading out a report from a psychologist who saw D’Souza and then ordering him to continue attending weekly sessions.
“The client tends to deny problems and isn’t very introspective,” the psychiatrist wrote. “The client tends to deny problems and is arrogant and intolerant of others’ feelings.”
D’Souza — the maker of the anti-President Obama film “2016: Obama’s America” — did hear some good news during the proceeding, the Post report sad.
So long as D’Souza stays on track with his community service, he will be allowed to visit his daughter in London and his elderly mom in India later this year, Berman said.
WND reported Brafman provided evidence to the court that the psychiatrist D’Souza was ordered to see found no indication of depression or reason for medication. In addition, the psychologist D’Souza subsequently consulted provided a written statement concluding there was no need to continue the consultation, because D’Souza was psychologically normal and well adjusted.
But Judge Berman, who was appointed by Bill Clinton, disagreed, effectively overruling the judgment of the two licensed psychological counselors the U.S. probation department had approved as part of D’Souza’s criminal sentence.
“I only insisted on psychological counseling as part of Mr. D’Souza’s sentence because I wanted to be helpful,” the judge explained. “I am requiring Mr. D’Souza to see a new psychological counselor and to continue the weekly psychological consultation not as part of his punishment or to be retributive.
“I’m not singling out Mr. D’Souza to pick on him,” Berman said at the hearing Monday. “A requirement for psychological counseling often comes up in my hearings in cases where I find it hard to understand why someone did what they did.”
“You have to understand, I have a background in social work with a psychology major,” Berman explained. “I’m sensitive to mental health issues in the criminal cases I hear, and I do not want to end psychological counseling at this time in Mr. D’Souza’s case.”
WND reported Brafman countered that it was not fair to require someone like D’Souza to continue psychological counseling as part of his sentence when the doctors D’Souza has seen so far believe he does not need to continue the psychological counseling.
“Applying your argument to white-collar crimes,” Brafman continued, “why wouldn’t all white-collar criminals need psychological counseling?”
Berman countered that 85 percent of all criminal defendants who appear before him argue they don’t need psychological counseling or drug therapy, among other rehabilitative interventions.
“What I’m reading in the psychological case notes is compatible with my own impressions,” Berman continued. “The psychological case notes indicate that while Mr. D’Souza is highly intelligent, he has remarkably little insight into his own motivations, that he is not introspective or insightful, but that he tends to see his own actions in an overly positive manner.
“I consider the original crime in this case is an insight issue,” Berman continued. “That Mr. D’Souza committed this crime involves a colossal failure of insight and introspection. The case notes also say Mr. D’Souza has weaknesses in controlling his own impulses and that he is prone to anger in reaction to criticism.”
“Therapy is more of an art than a science, and a new therapist may be what is needed in this case,” he said.
19 Comments
Dinesh D’Souza is now a certified scoundrel as declared by the American court system. These Indian Christians use religion to get ahead in the United States, and then they use the race card campaigning for the Republican party. None of the American candidates in either parties will blabber the nonsense that he periodically does.
This has been compared to Maoist and Stalinist tactics for punishing those whose opinions are not in line with those of authority, in this case, Judge Berman. My, how leftist minds think alike!
I believe it’s time for judge, Richard Berman to bite the dust. It takes some doing to tick me off as quickly as did this liberal/progressive hack. (as newriderguy would say) What the heck is going on in this country!
Time to remove this judge!
If the judge wasn’t going to act on the professional diagnosis of the experts he appointed, why did he appoint them? The judge is peering through the scarf that is supposed to make justice blind.
YouTube some Dinesh. The guy may not be certifiable but he certainly fits the judges description. I for one think he deserves everything the judge is throwing at him. Is it the legal system’s obligation to change him from a class A jerk into a thoughtful, compassionate human? Obviously not, so I’m with you on that. However, I am happy he’s run afoul of the system as a result of his bad behavior.
If anyone needs to see a shrink its Mr D’souza.
No, but you sure do. Especially the way you eat your boyfriend’s feces and call it “love”.
No, but you sure do. Especially the way you eat your boyfriend’s f*c*s and call it “love”.
No, but you sure do.
Those who tell others what they ‘need’ are the absolute neediest.
Absolutely correct!
The use of psychiatry for political purposes is expressly forbidden by the World Psychiatric Association. This judge can not only be impeached but face disbarment as well. And any psychiatrist who treats D’Souza on this judge’s order can lose his or her license.
The judge seems to think that anyone who disagrees with him on political issues must be arrogant and not be sane. That seems to pretty much define intolerant and arrogant.
Also, it seems that the judge thinks since he “majored in psychology” that gives him some kind of special insight. Well I majored in psychology, then got an M.A., then a Ph.D. and passed the licensing exams to become a psychologist — as did the court appointed psychologist who came to his (or her) own conclusion (as also did the psychiatrist) and said D’Souza needed neither medication nor further therapy and was quite sane. Different from the judge’s, unsurprisingly, who is so proud of his B.A. though.
This judge is clearly a liberal/progressive hack.
I am not a fan of Dinesh, at all. You seem to know what you are talking about; however, in your last sentence”This judge is clearly a liberal/progressive hack.”
did you intend to say that this judge is an idiot piece of sh–t.? just a thought.
One does not need to be classified ‘insane’ to undergo counseling.
Two qualified mental health professionals evaluated him and said he did not need counseling. The judge is way out of his bailiwick on this one.
The shrinks always back down from their racketeering when the public is watching. The whole psych system is BS. Where’s the ‘science?’ These people are sickos, they need people to be ‘sick.’ Newsflash: the human brain doesn’t get ‘sick’ at any greater rate than the other organs in the body. Science requires objectivity and empirical evidence, not projections from attention needy egomaniacs.
The problem is that two prior reports — ordered by the judge — found he does NOT need counseling/therapy. The judge is not allowed (certainly not by the APA) to go “Dr. Shopping”until he finds someone who will go along with his political agenda.
They found he was intolerant, lacked introspection, had problems controlling impulses, reacted to anger to criticism… all of those ARE things for which counseling could help and they’re what landed him in court in the first place. This is no different than requiring a drunk driver attend DUI.