What >>3118 said, except that a dollar sign in front of jQuery elements is considered proper and correct, so keep using that. I would like to add, though, that you would probably appreciate using CoffeeScript:
$ ->
spamDetect = (post) ->
$post = $(post)
$name = $post.find '.name'
$name.text 'SAGE' if $post.find('.email').length > 0
It compiles to JavaScript through Node.js, which any seasoned web developer should already be using, and should only take a couple minutes to set up and get going.
If you are already familiar with Python, and like the language, you will definitely find CoffeeScript to be enjoyable.