How stupid can a judge get? The N.Y. judge in the Trump real estate fraud case apparently doesn't know the difference between a property's assessed and appraised values.

I bet that just about every tax payer in, say, Cook County knows the difference

Judge Arthur Engoron

For those who have never paid property taxes and don’t know the difference (like New York Judge Arthur Engoron) the New York Sun explains it:

Error in New York’s Civil Fraud Case Against Trump Is Flagged by Industry Insiders, Who Say Valuation of Mar-a-Lago Cited by Judge Is Based on a Misunderstanding of Basic Real Estate Practice

Apparent mistake by Judge Engoron surfaces in his use of a Palm Beach County appraisal of Mar-a-Lago that, an expert says, ‘is detached from the true value of the property.’

Assessments for property tax purposes are sometimes called “drive by assessments,” and are used to determine how much property tax the owner must pay. Real property values are something entirely different, and when it comes down to it, it’s market value—what a buyer is willing to pay and at what price the owner is willing to sell.

I’m no lawyer, and the judge’s mistake seems so obvious, I can hardly believe that I’m understanding it correctly. Here’s the math: While the assessed value of Trump’s Florida palace, Mar-a-Lago, runs about $18 million, an ocean-front property’s worth in wealthy Palm Beach is in the hundreds of millions.

The difference is so fundamental, it prompted me to Google his honor. I discovered the ABC thinks he’s just wonderful:

Now, in the twilight of a distinguished two-decade career on the bench, the erudite, Ivy League-educated judge is presiding over his biggest case yet: deciding the future of former President Donald Trump's real estate empire.

I also noted that he “protested against the Vietnam War,” which apparently to ABC means something good. But the article also said:

Engoron, a Democrat, has ruled repeatedly against Trump in the three years he's been presiding over James' lawsuit. He's forced Trump to sit for a deposition, held him in contempt and fined him $110,000.

Even in corrupt Chicago, Engoron would be laughed off the bench.