Our Constitution promises equal justice under the law. School children and attendees at civic meetings begin with the Pledge of Allegiance wherein we proclaim a commitment to “liberty and justice for all.” But in many ways, these words are more aspirational than reality. Some Americans seem to be just fine with a justice system that harshly punishes the poor and people of color and seeks to pardon wealthy white men.
This past week, during Trump jury deliberations in New York, I asked my husband if he thought Erik Trump misspoke when he predicted they would win in the hush money trial because they were “white”, and the case was nonsense. My husband thought as I did that Erik spoke a truth that he might have preferred to keep silent. It’s evident to me that because Trump is wealthy and white, he has been able to break laws his entire life with near impunity until now; so being prosecuted feels really unfair to him and his family. We’re talking about a man who cheated on his SAT, dodged the draft, sexually assaulted women, discriminated against blacks in housing, cheated contractors, defrauded banks, defrauded Trump University students, and evaded taxes. Think of the many people through the years who were prosecuted and served time for crimes like this. He never did. For all his crimes, he was never prosecuted criminally until now. Most times, the law turned a blind eye. On occasion, he paid small fines, or he successfully tied things up in court leaving his victims without justice.
Many Americans, like me, are glad he was finally held criminally accountable for at least one crime. His more serious crimes involving stealing classified government documents and conspiring to steal the 2020 election have been successfully postponed by Republican judges who have co-opted our justice system through clever legal maneuvers. It is frustrating to say the least.
However, other Americans, most of whom are avid Trump supporters, are outraged that he is being held accountable at all. To their minds, Trump is somehow either incapable of breaking the law or is above the law altogether. No, it doesn’t make sense, but here we are. I hear them passionately proclaim that he hasn’t done anything wrong. I hear them echo his claims that this is all a political witch hunt. They aren’t interested in the truth; they are interested in protecting their dear leader. After the guilty verdict, the calls for riots and violence against the judge, prosecutors, jurors and all democrats are actually pretty frightening.
And then there are a handful of short-sighted Americans who submit to an unjust two-tiered justice system wherein some people are actually treated better than others and rightfully should be held to a different standard. They hold people like politicians and wealthy elites as somehow too valuable to society to be held to the same laws as average citizens. Unless someone is murdered, they seem to be okay with “white collar” crimes wherein elites evade taxes, falsify legal and business records, defraud banks and business partners, bribe politicians, extort others, and sexually harass women. They mistakenly view these as victimless crimes, failing to realize that we, the American people are the actual victims. The idea that any American would select a convicted felon as president is a terrifying thought. I’m hopeful the persuadable folks who are still reasonable will recognize what is best for our nation before it is too late.
In a way, I’m grateful that Trump has highlighted one of our nation’s psychological shortcomings when it comes to upholding the rule of law. We now see more clearly that we have yet to realize the aspiration of our founding fathers for equal justice under the law. But with the criminal conviction of Trump in this small and comparatively insignificant case, we have moved a step closer to that goal.