Now under three criminal indictments in as many jurisdictions, and likely soon a fourth, Donald Trump presents as an historic one-man crime wave. Even more, since his two federal indictments–in Florida and in the District of Columbia–he has proven to be an ongoing serial offender despite all. He continues open attacks on and threats to judges, prosecutors and potential
witnesses despite a federal court order to not tamper with the legal process and its personnel, including potential witnesses.
What to do about the ceaseless criminality of a former American president? One who continues to undermine the credibility and legitimacy of American law and law enforcement with his threatening intransigence? During his “campaign” for the 2024 presidential election? Legal experts say judges facing Trump’s trials and ongoing misconduct regarding them have few good options. I believe they are wrong. If the nation is to protect its law, order, and–most importantly–real justice, well, here are five reasons the federal judge in Washington should incarcerate him now, pending his trial on the charges of conspiring to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.
1. Making threats to potential witnesses, jurors and court personnel. This is part of his pattern of behavior since the indictments and lawsuits began piling up. At his arraignment last week for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, the federal judge magistrate warned him under the pain of punishment not to threaten witnesses or otherwise obstruct justice. The next day he posted on his social media platform the message in all caps: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.” This continuing behavior is the very definition of incorrigibility. It is also clearly his ongoing effort to intimidate those who would provide witness against him or jurors who may judge him guilty and judges who would sentence him. The most powerful Mafia figures in American history would not have gotten away with this conduct without being locked up prior to trial.
2. Threatening the legal system.  Not to punish firmly Trump’s ongoing assaults on law enforcement and the courts with his lies and threats is to delegitimize American criminal law, undermine justice, and encourage other powerful bad actors to do the same. Trump claims that prosecutors wish to violate his First Amendment rights to free speech and that “President Biden’s Justice Department” is trying to impede his campaign for the White House. There are no facts in support of either of these specious claims. And to the contrary, there are many reasons to think that Trump declared his candidacy early for the 2024 election only and simply so that he could make such spurious arguments against prosecution.
3. Incapacitation:  Locking Trump up now would prevent him from issuing incendiary lies and threats on social media and on the campaign stump. But this would not prevent him from continuing his presidential campaign from his cell, as the socialist Eugene Debs in fact did in the 1920 race for the White House. Trump’s intended political messages from inside prison could be monitored to eliminate those that appear to want to incite violence against his opponents.
4. Bringing a speedier trial. Trump’s go-to move when facing legal consequences for his one-man crime wave is to delay, delay, delay the legal process. Being behind bars while awaiting his trial would weaken his fondness for this tactic. And justice delayed is justice denied, as legal observers have asserted since the 17th century. Trump has always sought injustice in his political and business affairs.
5. Demonstrating the feasibility of incarcerating a former president. Some legal analysts have suggested that it may be too difficult to lock up a convicted former president, especially given his guaranteed protection by the U.S. Secret Service. This is nonsense. Yes, the Secret Service has never had to protect a former president 365/24/7 while he is incarcerated. So what? In fact, it would be simpler to protect him in jail or prison than as a free person. Prisons and jails occasionally fail to protect notorious inmates from assault or suicide inside the wall, as was the case with the 2019 death of Trump’s former friend, Jeffrey Epstein. But with a Secret Service detail always in place to protect Trump, no doubt in a jail’s or prison’s most secure location, the former president’s risk of danger asymptotically approaches zero.
And that is about as good as it gets, especially for someone who attempted to overthrow the nation’s democracy.
Dear Peter,
right on throughout. And a clear grounding of your positions by reference to the appropriate legal framework. Cheers to you!!!
I’m fascinated by this unfolding story as much from the aspect of human psychology as from the legal arguments. How is it possible that Trump retains such popularity in the face of clear-cut criminal allegations and his history of behavior? How can people who claim to love our country, hate our government and rule of law so deeply that they applaud him? How can a person become so idolized purely on personality? Is it possible that this is viewed as entertainment by the news outlets who are magnifying minor news items to drive viewership and we will wake up to find it wasn’t nearly as bad as it now seems? Is it possible that human nature shaped by evolution over millions of years to favor tribalism, short-term thinking, competition and survival in hostile environments, tendencies which are increasingly unsuited in a world where, suddenly, we need to cooperate globally to survive an impending climate collapse, will be our undoing?