Translation of lawyer’s comment:
If you insult the judge, he’ll find you guilty.
Sounds more like contempt of court then a plea to me.
Insult/contempt is a credible explanation for why he ended up in jail, but I can’t figure out what sort of question/instruction could have led to the quoted response.
He was driving aggressively and insulted another driver who happened to be a judge ?
“you do you” = “go f* yourself”, edited by the lawyer ?
“what sort of question/instruction could have led to the quoted response”
How about: Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
After doing some research (it’s a slooooow day at work), I discovered that Urban Dictionary defines ‘you do you’ as ‘ the act of doing what one believes is the right decision’, and ‘stay in your lane’ as ‘mind your own business’.
If the convict’s reply to the judge’s question: ‘Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth…so help you God?’ was ‘Well, you can do whatever you think is right, but stay out of my business’, that answer could be taken as a guilty plea, or at least a pretty strong indication that he’ll be lying and maybe enough to keep him behind bars.
Might this be the thread of this comic?
I endorse Stan’s translations, with the addition that “stay in your own lane” can have status or rank implications, since the speaker generally pictures themselves in the fast lane while the addressee is a slowpoke.
The incongruity here is that “You do you” is usually a positive phrase, a message of support, not admonition. So it really doesn’t go with “Stay in your lane”.
I agree with chipchristian that it sounds more like contempt of court; he really needs a new lawyer, because, even though the result looks superficially the same, being in jail for direct civil contempt is in no way, manner, or form the same as being in jail for pleading guilty: it is an axiom that jail time for civil contempt cannot be punitive, only coercive — if it smacks of punishment, that is the sign that it must end (though applications will vary). So, if he’s in jail because he’s being disrespectful to the judge, he can end his confinement anytime by simply not being disrespectful to the judge any more; if he’s in jail for pleading guilty, then he’s there till the end of his sentence (with parol, etc.).
“Stay in your own lane” means “mind your own business.” I suppose you could interpret “mind your own business” as “no contest”…
Well, I’ll add these two expressions to my list of colloquial English to impress my American cousins; thanks !
@ oliver – You are more likely to confuse your cousins than impress them, neither of those two expressions is all that common, that’s why the comic ended up here as a CIDU.
P.S. Apologies to Olivier for the double typo.
‘You do you’ is actually quite common. Common enough to be topic of a New York Times article back in 2015, apparently.
In the kingdom of Olivers, Olivier is king. ;)
Confusing each other is one of our favorite family activities, so no problem there.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Translation of lawyer’s comment:
If you insult the judge, he’ll find you guilty.
Sounds more like contempt of court then a plea to me.
Insult/contempt is a credible explanation for why he ended up in jail, but I can’t figure out what sort of question/instruction could have led to the quoted response.
He was driving aggressively and insulted another driver who happened to be a judge ?
“you do you” = “go f* yourself”, edited by the lawyer ?
“what sort of question/instruction could have led to the quoted response”
How about: Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
After doing some research (it’s a slooooow day at work), I discovered that Urban Dictionary defines ‘you do you’ as ‘ the act of doing what one believes is the right decision’, and ‘stay in your lane’ as ‘mind your own business’.
If the convict’s reply to the judge’s question: ‘Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth…so help you God?’ was ‘Well, you can do whatever you think is right, but stay out of my business’, that answer could be taken as a guilty plea, or at least a pretty strong indication that he’ll be lying and maybe enough to keep him behind bars.
Might this be the thread of this comic?
I endorse Stan’s translations, with the addition that “stay in your own lane” can have status or rank implications, since the speaker generally pictures themselves in the fast lane while the addressee is a slowpoke.
The incongruity here is that “You do you” is usually a positive phrase, a message of support, not admonition. So it really doesn’t go with “Stay in your lane”.
I agree with chipchristian that it sounds more like contempt of court; he really needs a new lawyer, because, even though the result looks superficially the same, being in jail for direct civil contempt is in no way, manner, or form the same as being in jail for pleading guilty: it is an axiom that jail time for civil contempt cannot be punitive, only coercive — if it smacks of punishment, that is the sign that it must end (though applications will vary). So, if he’s in jail because he’s being disrespectful to the judge, he can end his confinement anytime by simply not being disrespectful to the judge any more; if he’s in jail for pleading guilty, then he’s there till the end of his sentence (with parol, etc.).
“Stay in your own lane” means “mind your own business.” I suppose you could interpret “mind your own business” as “no contest”…
Well, I’ll add these two expressions to my list of colloquial English to impress my American cousins; thanks !
@ oliver – You are more likely to confuse your cousins than impress them, neither of those two expressions is all that common, that’s why the comic ended up here as a CIDU.
P.S. Apologies to Olivier for the double typo.
‘You do you’ is actually quite common. Common enough to be topic of a New York Times article back in 2015, apparently.
In the kingdom of Olivers, Olivier is king. ;)
Confusing each other is one of our favorite family activities, so no problem there.