Special treatment? How judges are handling Trump’s lawsuits before the election.


This was supposed to be the week.

Former President Donald Trump’s legal work was about to reach its first dramatic conclusion. Fifty days from a presidential election in which he is the Republican candidate, Mr. Trump would be sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom.

Why we wrote this

A focused story

The US justice system is meant to treat every accused equally. But when that accused is both a former president and a presidential candidate, the courts show the flexibility that accompanies the fundamental principles.

So what would be the punishment? Jail time? A wrist shot?

The answer, the norm in the cases of Mr. Trump of late, is that America will have to wait. Sentencing is now scheduled for late November, following a decision by New York State Judge Juan Merchan.

The cases have charged the courts with an unprecedented challenge: how to accommodate the unique circumstances of this single defendant while upholding the expectation that every defendant is treated equally under the law. But they also revealed that the principles of the justice system have flexibility.

All of this matters because of concerns that Mr. Trump is being treated too harshly, or too lightly, and what that could mean for democratic norms.

“No other former president of the United States has ever been prosecuted, so he’s unique in that way,” says David Alan Sklansky of Stanford Law School. The question, he adds, is whether judges ensure “that the law applies equally to everyone.”

This was supposed to be the week.

Former President Donald Trump’s legal work was about to reach its first dramatic conclusion. Fifty days from a presidential election in which he is again the Republican candidate, Mr. Trump would be sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom.

The prosecution of a former leader is perhaps the latest stress test of the justice system of democracy. So what would be the punishment? Jail time? A slap on the wrist?

Why we wrote this

A focused story

The US justice system is meant to treat every accused equally. But when that accused is both a former president and a presidential candidate, the courts show the flexibility that accompanies the fundamental principles.

The answer, as has become the norm in Mr. Trump’s cases, is that America will have to wait. Sentencing is now scheduled for late November, following a decision last week by New York State Judge Juan Merchan. The decision is symptomatic of the pressures that judges weigh in all four criminal cases against the former and possibly future president.

The cases have charged the courts with an unprecedented challenge: how to accommodate the unique circumstances of this unique defendant while upholding the basic expectation that every defendant is treated equally under the law. But they also revealed that the fundamental principles of the justice system have some flexibility.

All of this matters because of ongoing concerns that Mr. Trump is – or will be – treated too harshly or too lightly, and what that could mean for democratic norms and the rule of law.

Leave a Comment