Hey everyone, This is sort of a random observation that came from a couple of things I’d read and talked about. Have you ever seen a narcissistic person in court? Interestingly, they don’t have a very easy time there, and let’s break down why.
The Challenges Narcissists Face in Court
Do narcissistic people have such a tough time showing up in court? This is more of a low-frequency event that may happen to people. Now, what inspired this video is that I was reading about a particularly narcissistic dude who was in court facing various charges recently, and this was a person who was very clearly very used to getting his way and not following the rules.
Courtroom Rules and Authority
The court has rules, right? Court has rules: you have to sit down, you don’t speak unless given permission, and you can’t yell, curse, or throw tantrums. The judge is the ultimate authority in that room. What’s interesting is that narcissistic people end up in court more than the average bear. They love to sue people, so obviously that can end them up in court.
Their divorces are messy and chaotic, so that can also end them up in court. They are more likely to be aggressive, violent, and break the law. More court. They’re more likely to have restraining orders, I’m guessing probably put against them. That might be more court.
Related Topics:
10 Interesting Facts About The INFJ Personality Type
8 Signs You’re in a Narcissistic Relationship
How Narcissists Remain Hidden in Plain Sight?
Narcissists’ Frequent Court Appearances
So, while it can seem that they are never held accountable, they do more bad things, and they do create more messes, and that can mean that they probably end up in courtroom settings more than the rest of us. Now, some of you may be thinking, hmmm, I have to say that it’s certainly in Family Court situations that you feel like they didn’t do badly in Family Court.
You might remember that they kept it together while I fell apart. But I have to say, in many cases, especially if the other person in the divorce, the not narcissistic person, doesn’t respond emotionally, the narcissistic person will show their cracks.
Cracks Under Pressure
Ultimately, narcissistic people do not do well in any situation where they have to tone down their entitlement, and this can be milked to your advantage if you are on the opposing side. By the time things in any situation have progressed to a courtroom, they’re pretty bad. It couldn’t be mediated, could have been fixed, right? It’s gone to the ultimate place. So, your calmness and your nonresponse will mean that the full onus is on the narcissistic person to keep it together.
Behavioral Struggles in Court
The unyielding expectations of courtrooms often mean that narcissistic people kind of crack over time. They just can’t stop themselves. They’ll roll their eyes, they’ll shift in their seats, they’ll fidget like a six-year-old, they’ll mumble things under their breath, they’ll start to get into it with the judge, they’ll look menacingly at a jury, they’ll get antagonistic and riled up with their attorneys.
Immediate Consequences in Court
Courtrooms are interesting, right? Because there are places where there are swift and immediate penalties for the usual tantrums that narcissistic people can get away with. By and large, narcissistic folks go through life tantrums, yelling at everyone from coffee shop clerks to their employees to their spouses and children when they don’t get their way, and most people often give in to them because the alternative can be too scary and too noisy. But you don’t have a bailiff and the authority of the court in your living room. Those tantrums don’t work in courtroom settings.
Comparisons to Other Controlled Environments
Few other places are like this. I mean, airplanes are sometimes like this, right? I mean, you have to sit down, you have to buckle your seat belt, you have to have your seat up in the right position, you can’t just walk out to the bathroom while the plane is taking off.
But many a narcissistic person tries, and the reach of federal guidelines means that if a person acts up, the people who work on the plane have broad authority to get them removed and federal charges brought to bear. All of those plane meltdowns we see on social media or in the news, I’m willing to hazard a guess that the vast majority of those folks are people with narcissistic traits.
The Clash of Entitlement and Authority
Any time there is a requirement for accountability, and that’s coupled with there being rapid consequences, unyielding authority, clear rules of engagement, and above all else, all of these things subvert the narcissistic person’s entitlement and their sense of specialness, narcissistic people cannot handle it. The more entitled and powerful the narcissistic person is, the worse they are at following the procedures and rules of a place with very clear ones.
A High-Profile Example
I have to say, I enjoyed following the news coverage of that narcissistic person. It happened to be a big trial, following the news coverage of that narcissistic person who simply could not keep it together in that courtroom because it was the one time that the narcissistic person had a worthy opponent who was more emboldened than him, in that case, the judge, right?
Now, this person kept saying grandiose and entitled things, and the judge, not surprisingly, just kept getting angrier. It was literally like watching someone dig their hole.
Narcissists’ View of the Justice System
The fascinating thing is that narcissistic folks think that our justice system works brilliantly when it gives them what they want, but the first time a judge tells them to sit down and shut their mouths, they’re screaming about how it’s a travesty of justice.
Navigating Narcissists in Court
Now, narcissistic people still get away with a lot and somehow manage to get away with a lot, even in a courtroom. Again, I’ve said this before, they have this uncanny ability to fly just under the radar of not breaking the law but making other people miserable. And since we cannot prosecute someone for being an asshole, too often they do sort of win in terms of judgments, settlements, and sentences.
Strategies for Facing Narcissists in Court
That said, the one thing that narcissistic people are not able to do is to abide by the court’s behavioral expectations. So that means if you are going to face up against a narcissistic person in any courtroom setting, stay calm and let themselves ruin it for themselves.
Stay calm, stay composed, be prepared. I’m not saying it’s going to go your way but left to their own devices in the one place where their entitlement and embolden are stripped away, in some ways, let them burn themselves down. It can only help your cause, and let me tell you, it makes for some great theater to watch a narcissistic person squirm, especially in a courtroom.
Leave a Comment