Courts target defendants primarily based on who they are, not what they have done. This is a violation of one of the oldest and most ancient prohibitions. book of deuteronomyIn it, God instructs law enforcement officers not to “recognize faces” when dispensing justice. therefore, blindfolded statue of justice.
But for centuries, prosecutors have selectively prosecuted defendants based on their faces, names, political affiliations, and ideology. Notoriously, Notorious Soviet KGB chief “Show me the man and I will find the crime,” he told Stalin. Similarly, a South American dictator boasted: To my enemies it is the law. ”
The great American jurist Robert Jackson, without naming the law, said: Almost anyone's part. In such cases, it is not a matter of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who committed it; it is a matter of picking the man, consulting the law books, or sending an investigator to find him. Please give me some discomfort. ” In the 1970s I started using the term “guerrilla warfare.” The word “law” has now become a common term.
President Joe Biden in turn criticized his own Justice Department. Regarding taking legal action against my son.. This is what he said in pardoning his son Hunter. “Unless there are aggravating factors such as use in a crime, multiple purchases, or purchasing a weapon as a straw purchaser, people rarely end up in court.” About serious crimes Just about how they filled out their gun forms. Non-criminal settlements are usually awarded to people who missed paying their taxes due to severe addiction, but then repaid them with interest and penalties. It is clear that Hunter was given special treatment…although no rational person considering the facts of Hunter's case could come to any other conclusion than that Hunter was chosen solely because he is my son. , that's wrong. ”
Biden's observation is certainly correct. Hunter would never have been indicted if his name wasn't Biden. yes, he broke the lawBut unless there are special circumstances, defendants who do what Hunter did rarely face criminal charges.
As my friend and colleague Harvey Silvergrate says in his excellent book on the subject: Three felonies a day: “Every Soviet citizen committed at least three felonies a day, because the criminal code was written so broadly to cover everyday everyday activities. The Communist Party committed millions of criminals. We decided who to indict from among the candidates.”
Mr. Biden's very human decision, taken reluctantly and contrary to his earlier promise not to intervene, now A gift to President-elect Donald Trump Defendants who he believes were selectively prosecuted based on political affiliation, loyalty to him, or other dubious considerations, although he did not require it as a matter of constitutional authority. The green light was given to pardon him.
Mr. Biden is now also obligated to review other applications for pardons and commutations similar to the one he granted to Mr. Hunter during his remaining weeks in office, with fairness considerations in mind. It would be unfair for this to end with just my son.
Therefore, there is a possibility that the response to “legal measures” will be “amnesty” in the future. The shoe is on the opposite foot. What is good for geese?
While retributive pardons may create short-term justice, or at least equality, there must be more systematic ways to minimize abuse of the law by all sides. As long as there is prosecutorial discretion, there will be abuses based on partisan, personal, and other considerations.
In certain limited circumstances, there is a “selective prosecution'' defense recognized by law. If a defendant is selected for prosecution based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religion from among other similarly situated potential defendants, the defendant may seek dismissal. However, even in such situations, it is rarely acknowledged.
This limited defense also does not extend to political, ideological, or partisan choices. The law could be amended to place the onus on prosecutors to justify selective prosecutions if the defendant can preliminarily show that other potential defendants whose crimes are indistinguishable from theirs have not been prosecuted. can.
Although this is not easy to demonstrate in practice, this law should in theory prohibit selective legislation like the one directed against Hunter Biden, Donald Trump, and other controversial politicians. be.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, and author, most recently, of The War on the Jews: How to End Hamas's Barbarism. He is a Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and host of the podcast “The Dershow.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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