Everyone expected the hearings about what the Trump campaign and associates did or did not do with Russia, hush money payments, and other bad deeds to be a reckoning for the country. What was less expected is the spotlight they would shine on the failings of the American criminal justice system. With the shortcomings of everything from sentencing guidelines to raids of overwhelming force up for public debate, it’s an apt time for the bipartisan continuation of the work begun with the First Step Act.
The latest such incident, of course, was the decision by Judge T.S. Ellis to sentence former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to just 47 months, well below the 24 years he could have received under his sentencing guidelines.
Once it became clear that Manafort had gotten off lightly, criminal defense attorneys took to social media to highlight how the heavy hand of justice was applied to their less fortunate, less famous, and often, less white, clients:
For context on Manafort’s 47 months in prison, my client yesterday was offered 36-72 months in prison for stealing $100 worth of quarters from a residential laundry room.
— Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) March 8, 2019
Their point, of course, isn’t that the justice system should impose harsher sentences, but that there is such disparity within how “justice” is applied.
But it’s not just sentencing guidelines that the unfolding legal drama swirling around the president and his former associates has called into question.
When Roger Stone was arrested, for example, the conversation focused the legitimacy of early morning raids. That too prompted plenty of outraged comparisons:
Arpaio once sent 40 SWAT cops, a bomb robot, K9 units, and Steven Seagal to arrest a man suspected of cockfighting. Seagal drove an APC into the man’s living room. They destroyed the guy’s house with explosives, then filmed it all for a reality TV show. https://t.co/AjW2Lm7jSV
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) January 29, 2019
Other issues too have arisen over the past two years with the flood of investigations, indictments and convictions have also drawn new scrutiny. These include the cooperating witness, the treatment of aging prisoners, witness tampering, gag orders, and a host of other legal concerns.
That’s undoubtedly a good thing, although it’s unfortunate that failings that criminal defense attorneys have been pointing out for years are only now showing up as topics of mainstream discussion. Hopefully, that increased public interest translates not just into partisan bickering about fairness, but continued progress on criminal justice reforms.
If nothing else, that would be a positive outcome from the ongoing legal mess that has dominated headlines. Unfortunately, Congress so far has been otherwise occupied.
