OPINION:
Justice died in America on Thursday. A jury of Democrats in an all-Democratic jurisdiction pronounced the Republican candidate guilty in the first case of its kind.
It was a successful exercise of raw power by progressives desperate to brand former President Donald Trump a felon in advance of the November election. Those behind the scheme ignored the lasting damage their actions have done to our system of government.
Moving forward, all outgoing presidents will wonder which states dominated by the opposition faction are going to file the next indictment. Partisans have a recipe to follow: File vague charges in the most favorable jurisdiction and ensure the case is assigned to a like-minded jurist with a personal stake in the outcome of the proceeding.
The desired verdict is guaranteed, just as they were for Stalin’s show trials, and just as they are in South American dictatorships.
Every commander in chief will have no choice but to preemptively issue pardons at the end of each term to deny the incoming party’s ability to charge the Justice Department with finding a crime — any crime will do — to threaten the other side with imprisonment.
Our 235-year history of peaceful transitions of power dissolves into an endless cycle of revenge.
Polls prior to the verdict showed most Americans won’t alter their vote as a result of the verdict, but the gravity of what just happened will take time to sink in. Progressives may be popping Champagne corks now, but there’s a good chance ordinary Americans will feel revulsion at what Democratic elites have done.
It’s not a given that the New York Court of Appeals will undo this miscarriage of justice, as all seven of its judges were appointed by Democrats. The U.S. Supreme Court, on the other hand, recognizes exactly what’s happening.
On Thursday, the high court blocked New York’s brazen attempt to use state power to shut down the National Rifle Association. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for her unanimous colleagues: “Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.”
First Amendment suppression was also at work in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, as Mr. Trump had to operate under a gag order preventing him from explaining the Biden administration’s direct involvement in the plot. The court also allowed the prosecution to avoid disclosing the precise nature of the charges against Mr. Trump until closing arguments, depriving him of his due process rights.
Justices won’t have to look far to find violations of federal rights that require overturning the verdict, but the political stain Democrats have left behind can be erased only by voters.
In the immediate aftermath of the ruling, outraged Republicans crashed GOP servers trying to show support for Mr. Trump’s presidential bid. Come November, they will be motivated as they have never been before.
A verdict delivered by a rigged system deserves scorn, not respect. Those suggesting otherwise are willfully blind to the left’s ongoing destruction of societal norms. The restoration of our republic begins when the parties responsible for this injustice are forever removed from positions of authority. This must never happen again.
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