Gone are the days when political bias was checked at the courthouse door. The rule of law has lost its meaning. As we have seen with the Derek Chauvin trial, the January 6 federal prosecution, the anti-abortion protests, and now Donald Trump in Manhattan, if the defendant is on the “wrong” side of the political divide, you cannot get a fair trial or an impartial jury in a blue jurisdiction. The defendant is guilty by virtue of his or her character.
As recently as 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously vacated the conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell on corruption charges. Even though the defendant was a prominent Republican politician, liberal leader Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed onto the court’s decision that the statutory term “official acts” was too broad to link McDonnell to the corruption charges.
Without decisive legislative action from conservative leaders, trials on political issues in blue cities will become biased and corrupt. In Republican-leaning states.
In today’s Democrat America, such an outcome no longer seems possible. This, more than anything, is why we need a national divorce. In fact, we are already in the midst of a national divorce. It is very one-sided.
Blue jurisdictions do not abide by the law or the Constitution, and most of their residents are brainwashed by political tribalism. It is time for red states to do the same.
Republican governors, attorneys general and congressional leaders should announce plans to make their states sanctuaries for people facing political persecution in Democratic states. Local prosecutions, like those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, require state troopers to be involved in extradition. State and city law enforcement officials must get permission to arrest and extradite citizens of other states. That’s why Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he would not participate in any extradition efforts for Trump. In the end, it didn’t matter: Trump turned himself in.
Prepare for political persecution
States should convene special sessions in response to Trump’s ruling and pass laws giving criminal defendants facing extradition the right to appeal directly to their state attorneys general, claiming political persecution. Glimpse Absent arguments that it is a political issue or that laws adopted by Democratic-leaning states are unconstitutional, the ruling will have the effect of barring any state law enforcement agency from assisting with extradition.
Because it won’t end with Trump. Political persecution is coming. In some states, it has already begun.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was a radical last year. Signed HB 4129This law makes it a crime to intimidate public officials. What’s the problem? The law defines “intimidation” as follows: Perceived emotions Find out the identity of the alleged victim. I have heard that out-of-state residents who sent hostile emails to Michigan authorities have already been targeted by this law. In a deeply divided country, such laws could be used to silence many political opponents. This is a good example of why Republican-leaning state attorneys general should have the power to quash any extradition based on a clearly unconstitutional law.
And of course, Republican-leaning states need to solve the problems of Democratic-leaning cities.
Fani Willis, the prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, charged Trump and 18 others with “organized crime” and “conspiracy to illegally change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election” in Atlanta, a big blue island in an otherwise Republican-leaning state.
Similarly, Texas has many large Democratic cities, notably Austin, where Daniel Perry was convicted of murder in 2023 for defending himself against an armed Black Lives Matter mob that surrounded his car. Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Perry earlier this month, saying, “Texas has one of the strongest ‘self-defense’ laws that cannot be struck down by a jury or a progressive district attorney.”
That was a welcome outcome, but it should not be taken as consolation: Without decisive legislative action from conservative leaders, trials on political issues in blue cities will degenerate into bias and corruption. In Republican-leaning states.
Eliminate prejudice
Defendants could theoretically argue that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was violated. But as a practical matter, courts have made it nearly impossible for selective prosecution claims based on the Equal Protection Clause to succeed.
With that in mind, Republican-leaning state legislatures should pass the Politically Targeted Prosecution Act. This bill would give defendants the opportunity to present evidence of political targeting based on animus against an individual’s religious or political beliefs. For example, if a defendant could show that violent BLM or Antifa rioters were not prosecuted for obstructing law enforcement during a public disturbance, it would trigger a motion to dismiss the case for unequal treatment.
Similarly, states should make it easier for defendants indicted in Democratic-leaning cities to claim political jury bias. One way is to expand the jury pool to include more conservative jurisdictions so that defendants are more fairly selected. Defendants should have the right to serve on a jury pool where at least one-third of the members belong to their own political party. Otherwise, the guarantee of the right to serve on a jury of one’s peers rings hollow.
That means we need to make red states as red as blue states are blue. Blue states can do whatever they want, regardless of the law. It’s time for equal and countervailing power.
