My Mastodon feed was dancing in the streets after the big 34-conviction announcement. For some reason, my Medium feed was a lot quieter on this topic.
The dancers in the street were proclaiming how well the American justice system is working.
I totally disagree.
White collar crime gets an almost free pass
While I didn’t follow the trial well enough to fully understand the nuances, the crimes were, to me, more misdemeanors (falsifying business records) than aggressions committed against society. But there were laws; the prosecutors framed the evidence to fit those laws; the defense did a crappy job (or the evidence was too obvious); the jurors unanimously decided the 34 laws were broken.
But Mr. Trump has been breaking these kinds of laws for decades — and getting away with it.
It ain’t cheap to send someone to prison
I used to belong to a volunteer organization called “Citizens on Patrol.” About once a month, in the wee hours of the morning, two of us would drive around town, looking for possible signs of trouble and alerting the police if we saw any.
In one of our board meetings, our police liaison gave us an interesting fact about bringing a property criminal to justice. When the cops figure out who’s the likely suspect, it takes about $30,000 to complete the police investigation (i.e. gain enough evidence), hand it over to the prosecutor, and put the evidence and suspect in front of a judge. Justice ain’t cheap!
When we move to white-collar crime, the economics change big time. It is much more expensive to get the right evidence to get a guilty verdict. And the suspect is likely to have the funds to hire lawyers who know the angles to keep the prosecution off balance, which leads to fewer convictions, which leads to reluctance of prosecutors pursuing these cases.
In essence, we have two systems of justice. Rob a convenience store of $100, the law is more likely to catch up to you than if you conned a hundred seniors out of their life savings. It’s just economics.
Yes, every once in a while the justice system does send a white-collar criminal to prison. That is the token bone to placate we plebes that the justice system is working. But if you engage in white-collar crime, you are likely to get away with it. Just ask Donald Trump.
Societal training
Imagine if society had taken the initiative fifty years ago to prosecute Mr. Trump when he was making misdemeanors as a young businessman. He could have learned that he can’t get away with these kinds of things. He gained his attitude that he is above the law because we let him be above the law.
Unfortunately, there are many business leaders that are operating on the edge of the law. They don’t want people investigating their affairs on a regular basis for good reason. Hence, the business class uses its indirect influence on politics to keep the budgets for the offices of white-collar prosecutors on the low side.
If the USA ever decides to get serious about “falsifying business records,” I just might invest in for-profit prisons.
The Martyrdom Complex
There is no doubt that Mr. Trump is making the most of his guilty verdict. His supporters believe he is being prosecuted now mostly for political reasons. I tend to agree.
Had Mr. Trump slept with a porn star and tried to cover it up to keep his job as reality TV host, the worst that would have happened in the real world is that he would have been fired from his job as reality TV host. He would not be a convicted felon today, even if he was breaking these laws.
But by being a political enemy of too many people who are shaking their fist at the Democrats to “do something,” he got put in front of judge and jury.
So the fact that his worldly justice was delayed for decades feeds into the logic that the law is being used to persecute him for political reasons.
And this feeds into the eventual violence the USA is likely to see after November 5th. The dancers in the street don’t seem to understand the 34 convictions will further entrench enough people with attitudes to take matters into their own hands — like the patriots of 1776.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t feel sorry for Mr. Trump. I believe the right societal move is to go after him legally today, even if there are some bad consequences for doing so.
But we should have done that decades ago. We will pay that price for our delay soon: Did I mention the likely violence after November 5th?
But powerful people don’t want busybodies investigating their affairs. They will continue to use the political process to enhance their “freedom.” If that means only one in a thousand of them ever sit in front of a judge, that’s still pretty good odds to continue to defy the laws.
It’s time for a new way.
And I have a way where people like Donald Trump won’t rise too high in politics. And then they cannot write laws for themselves and set budgets for prosecution offices.
Published on Medium 2024
Plausible Outcomes for November 2024
