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Friday, May 31, 2024
Trump & Capone
What is the prevailing view (among the public, lawyers, legal academics, whoever) of the "justice" of convicting and incarcerating Al Capone for tax evasion (which he did but which is far from his most serious crime) when circumstances made it impossible to convict him of those more serious crimes? It seems to me that is appropriate analogy to the New York case against Trump--he committed the underlying actions, New York renders those actions unlawful, it is not the most serious crime he committed, circumstances make it impossible to convict him (or even get a trial) on the more serious crimes.
That New York brought this case as a separate sovereign from the United States enhances this point. New York pursued the lone breach of its laws (since Trump has not, yet, shot someone on Fifth Avenue) that it could pursue. Thatt violation is less severe than the violations of federal law that the U.S. might pursue, but it is all New York has. This is different (and perhaps more legitimate) than Capone, where it was one sovereign--the U.S.--downshifting to a small offense because it could not get the larger offense.
To be clear, I am separating any possible legal defects in the Trump conviction--whether the judge erred on New York law or whether New York law violates due process. I also am separating the normative question of whether New York should have the laws it does. Assuming the legal and factual correctness of the New York verdict, is it unjust for a sovereign to get Trump on something so small?
Posted by Howard Wasserman on May 31, 2024 at 03:02 PM in Howard Wasserman, Law and Politics | Permalink
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