Justice, American style.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/01/justice-american-style.html

Those noises that people heard this morning, coming from cemeteries, burial plots and tombs in places like Mt. Vernon, Virginia, in the Christ Church burial yard in Philadelphia, near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, in the Park Street Church cemetery in Boston, in the Trinity churchyard in New York, and scattered up and down the east coast, were the founding fathers of the United States of America, rolling over in their graves. It's been happening quite a bit lately, as the constitutional democracy they carefully designed, debated, and finally drafted and ratified has come unravelled. The noises were just a bit louder today, as the rule of law died with them.

For the first time in American history, what these men found so unimaginable they provided no contingency or provision for its occurrence, a man convicted of a felony will take the oath of office as President of the United States. What that says about the character of the country itself, the failure of its leadership, the lack of moral values of a plurality of its electorate, the ineffectiveness of its judiciary and legal system, and its respect for the rule of law is disgraceful.

And what will the consequences be, down the road, as a result of teaching our children that there are certain people who are above the law? How will they learn to have respect for a law that only applies to certain people, not to everyone equally?

As a progressive, especially when it comes to law enforcement and the administration of justice, I've never really been in favor of laws that mandate sentences for specific crimes. On the other hand, the latitude that is often placed in the hands of judges implies a high level of trust in their impartiality which too many are unable to exercise, unfortunately, especially in this highly charged partisan, political climate. A mandated sentence here would have guaranteed that Trump would suffer some consequence for his crimes, and he should have.

[CrispyQ]

1. This blogger speaks for me.

...It's time for Democrats to empower younger leaders who will take bold risks to serve the American people.

I'm talking about bold moves like breaking the Senate filibuster and then using the majority we had to pack that damn court with justices who would overturn the Dobbs decision and the ridiculous immunity ruling. We could have done that. Yes, it's risky, especially when the other side gets into power, but they're going to do the same when it suits them, so why not take the risk and get a job done for the American people, instead of circling the wagons to hang on to what power we can?

[lees1975]

2. I posted this elsewhere, but it's relevant here and these are legitimate questions.

Why did Judge Merchan let Trump go with such a ridiculous sentence?

He was bribed.

He and his family had their lives threatened.

He believed Trump that this was just a political witch hunt.

His ruling gives great credibility to the last point.