No One Is Above The Law

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Comment: A friend recently said that we should never see a President of the United States in orange overalls even if prosecutors proved Donald Trump committed huge crimes.

He had no argument with Trump’s impeachment or VP Spiro Agnew going to jail in the 1970s. If Trump is cheating banks and governments out of big bucks, they could and should prosecute him civilly; but not an ex-president jailed.

I do not agree.

Trump shouldn’t be persecuted vengefully or because prosecutors disagree with his policies. If it poses a threat to our republic, we should combat that threat appropriately. Twisting our legal system to lock him up just to protect our system would help destroy our system. Just as Trump shouldn’t have tried to use the Justice Department to attack political enemies, so prosecutors and prosecutors shouldn’t abuse the judiciary – or try to save it.

It sounds like the alleged crimes are massive tax law violations and perhaps massive bank fraud. Allegedly, Trump used various systems to compensate employees under the table so the amounts were not taxed and assets were significantly undervalued (for the taxpayer) or extremely inflated (for lenders). If proven in court, Trump should be treated like others who have committed similar crimes for similar amounts of money. If they went to jail, he probably should. If they normally wouldn’t, he probably shouldn’t.

It is an essential principle of our democracy that no one is above the law. Nobody. Our founders would have detested the idea of ​​immunizing high officials from criminal prosecution. Yes, in practice, powerful people abuse their power and avoid punishment for wrongdoing, or their crimes are ignored by lesser officials in order to gain favor. My friend strongly argued that so much is corrupt in the system that it would be unfair to put this ex-president in jail and not others who are likely to have committed crimes.

While most presidents would likely be accused by someone of violating national or international law, blatant and significant breaches of the law are uncommon. Richard Nixon appears to have committed crimes including obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting break-ins, but Gerald Ford pardoned him. Bill Clinton committed perjury; but in criminal law “the exculpatory lie” (the mere denial of the conduct of which one is guilty) is seldom pursued. Warren Harding appointed a cabinet full of poker friends and pals, some of whom were manifestly dishonest, and some went to jail; but Harding, who apparently was not personally involved in criminal activity, was pardoned from death.

I could say LBJ and Nixon committed war crimes in Southeast Asia; Clearly, Bush II winked at illegal torture and Obama likely violated international law in pursuing terrorists; but where the alleged crime is committed in the interests of the republic we may have to leave some leeway, but how much is a damned difficult question.

Basically, we shouldn’t give a get out of jail free card to a criminal who elects himself to be president. It sends the wrong message. How does a judge convict a Walmart shoplifter when the president is ice skating after stealing millions? Too many officials get away with wrongdoing.

Of course I think that orange hair wearing orange could be a healthy development for our country; But that is a thought I, as a jury member, would put aside. Trump deserves the same treatment that John Doe would receive for the same behavior.

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