Commentary: Trump’s Trial Is a Symptom of a Larger Crisis in American Justice

Donald Trump

Naturally, the cataract of commentary on Thursday’s Stalinist guilty, guilty, guilty verdict against Donald Trump has divided itself into two distinct pools. One is gleeful. The other is alarmed. Rather than anatomize the differences between the two, I’d like to start by simply noting the size and fervor of the response.  There are, I believe, two essential points to bear in mind.

The first is that the outpouring is only incidentally about Trump.  You might find this a surprising statement since the news has been full of little besides Trump.

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Commentary: A Disgusting, Filthy Corruption of American Justice

Trump Speaking

We have witnessed one of the most shameful, disgusting, filthy episodes in American history. If I had submitted the outline of the Trump trial to a publishing house, they would have rejected the book and said “Even readers of fiction novels will never believe your premises, Rabbi. Your effort at fiction-writing unfortunately descends right with that O.J. Simpson manuscript about ‘how he would have killed Nicole if he had done it.’ Actually, it is more bogus than the O.J. travesty. Sorry, Rabbi. Try submitting on another subject that is more believable, like Androids on the 37th parallel.”

As my readers know, I practiced law at three of America’s most prominent law firms, clerked for one of America’s most prominent federal appeals court judges, and was chief articles editor of UCLA Law Review. I also was a law professor for 16 years. By now, I know the law inside out. And I am a refugee from New York City, Brooklyn born and bred, Columbia University brainwashed and reeducated. I know that town and its players.

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Commentary: Republicans Give Left-Wing Prosecutors a Pass, Indict Conservatives Instead

It’s no secret that the Democratic Party has arrayed itself on the side of crime and criminals. But the GOP, for all its chest-thumping about law and order, has done little to help and, in some instances, actually sided with the forces of anarchy. Consider the cases of two prosecutors, Jackie Johnson and Frederick Franklin, both of whom served under Republican governors. 

Franklin has been praised for railroading a white man, Jake Gardner, who shot dead a black criminal, James Scurlock, in Nebraska. Johnson has been charged on specious grounds for her role in the investigation into the killing of a black man, Ahmaud Arbery, by a white man, Travis McMichael, in Georgia. Franklin has long supported left-wing causes, while Johnson is a Republican. Both incidents involving them occurred in 2020, but their fortunes couldn’t be more different.    

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Carol Swain Commentary: Critical Race Theory and the Decline of American Justice

Is racism in the DNA of white people, and is it a permanent part of American society? Critical race theorists argue that American society is structured to give white people undeserved advantages over people of color. They say people who look like me (Black) are victims. We are supposedly powerless to free ourselves from systemic racism, institutional structures, and cultural stereotypes that keep us in bondage. Systemic racism permeates every facet of our lives, including institutions and laws. The only hope is for whites to become “woke,” or conscious, of their racism and commit themselves to becoming antiracist. So, where did we get these ideas that now undergird the diversity, equity, and inclusion industry that rests on top of existing affirmative action programs that have been around since the mid-1960s?

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