March 8, 2019--Trumpian Justice
Paul Manafort yesterday evening was sentenced to just 47 months in prison. Not 47 years. Or, following the sentencing guidelines, not the 19 to 24 years many former prosecutors and defense attorneys were calling for.
What happened? A "mere" 47 months for Manafort, found guilty of eight significant felonies?
Rich, white-man justice is part of the answer.
As a CNN commentator said, almost stunned to silence, if an 18-year-old black kid broke into someone's apartment and stole a TV, he would likely have been sentenced to more time. Much more.
If this is part of the answer, the other part, even more disturbing is that Manafort is the first person to be the beneficiary of Trumpian justice.
Trumpian justice was first articulated by Trump himself when he said that even if he shot and killed someone on Fifth Avenue, he would not be convicted of a crime.
Manafort's trial results and sentencing are less dramatic examples.
First, he was the beneficiary of Trump jury nullification.
In Alexandria, VA he was tried for 18 counts but convicted of only eight. The other 10 were hung because one juror held out for a non-guilty verdict. Jurors interviewed after the trial ended said that the holdout was an immovable Trump supporter and only agreed to guilty findings on eight of the lesser charges in order to end the impasse and be allowed to go home.
This Trump-supporting juror must have been encouraged by the many things the presiding judge, T.S. Ellis III, said to the jury during pretrial motions and during the trial itself. On a daily basis he berated the prosecutors and even before the first witness was called declared that the only reason the Mueller team of prosecutors was pressing the case was because they wanted to force Manafort to flip in his support of Trump.
And then yesterday, during sentencing, he proclaimed that Manafort, in addition to what he might or might not have done to bring him before Ellis's court "led an otherwise blameless life."
He must not have been paying attention during the trial. Or, and this is the scary part, the judge too may be a Trumpian, which means that anything associated with Trump by definition is either not criminal nor if anyone associated with Trump is convicted of a felony he will receive a low-ball sentence.
The judge did all he could to avoid a guilty verdict but when the jury ignored him and found Manafort guilty Ellis gave him a version of a slap-on-the-wrist.
This sentencing will likely be extended when Manafort next week is sentenced by another judge after pleading guilty to additional felonies, but what we saw with Ellis is chilling and does not bode well for the future when there will likely be more Trump-related prosecutions presided over by other closeted Trumpians lurking in the crevices of the judicial system.
What happened? A "mere" 47 months for Manafort, found guilty of eight significant felonies?
Rich, white-man justice is part of the answer.
As a CNN commentator said, almost stunned to silence, if an 18-year-old black kid broke into someone's apartment and stole a TV, he would likely have been sentenced to more time. Much more.
If this is part of the answer, the other part, even more disturbing is that Manafort is the first person to be the beneficiary of Trumpian justice.
Trumpian justice was first articulated by Trump himself when he said that even if he shot and killed someone on Fifth Avenue, he would not be convicted of a crime.
Manafort's trial results and sentencing are less dramatic examples.
First, he was the beneficiary of Trump jury nullification.
In Alexandria, VA he was tried for 18 counts but convicted of only eight. The other 10 were hung because one juror held out for a non-guilty verdict. Jurors interviewed after the trial ended said that the holdout was an immovable Trump supporter and only agreed to guilty findings on eight of the lesser charges in order to end the impasse and be allowed to go home.
This Trump-supporting juror must have been encouraged by the many things the presiding judge, T.S. Ellis III, said to the jury during pretrial motions and during the trial itself. On a daily basis he berated the prosecutors and even before the first witness was called declared that the only reason the Mueller team of prosecutors was pressing the case was because they wanted to force Manafort to flip in his support of Trump.
And then yesterday, during sentencing, he proclaimed that Manafort, in addition to what he might or might not have done to bring him before Ellis's court "led an otherwise blameless life."
He must not have been paying attention during the trial. Or, and this is the scary part, the judge too may be a Trumpian, which means that anything associated with Trump by definition is either not criminal nor if anyone associated with Trump is convicted of a felony he will receive a low-ball sentence.
The judge did all he could to avoid a guilty verdict but when the jury ignored him and found Manafort guilty Ellis gave him a version of a slap-on-the-wrist.
This sentencing will likely be extended when Manafort next week is sentenced by another judge after pleading guilty to additional felonies, but what we saw with Ellis is chilling and does not bode well for the future when there will likely be more Trump-related prosecutions presided over by other closeted Trumpians lurking in the crevices of the judicial system.
Labels: Criminal Justice, Judge T.S. Ellis, Paul Manafort, Racial Justice, Trumpian Justice, White-Collar Crime
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:43 AM
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