“Justice delayed is justice denied” is a quote that is attributed to British journalist and politician, Sir William Blackstone. Unfortunately, this seems to have been and continues to be the legal mantra of Trump and his bevy of attorneys that due his bidding. Now that he is facing indictments in four different jurisdictions that include 91 felony counts and various civil trials, this maxim is at the heart of his legal strategy. Trump, his supporters and his legal team are hoping to continue to delay the various trials until after the 2024 election in hopes that Trump wins. If that happens, he and his supporters will throw ‘justice’ under the bus and maneuver to make sure that Trump never has to stand trial.
The sixth amendment to the constitution provides defendants the right to a speedy trial among other things. However, there doesn’t seem to be anything in our system of jurisprudence to prevent defendants from implementing a strategy of delay after delay with the express purpose of delaying justice until such a time when justice is denied. All the power is given to the defendants and seemingly none to the ‘victims,’ if you will.
In the case of Trump, the potential victims are every single citizen of the United States. I am certainly no attorney or legal scholar but it seems like there is something seriously wrong with the system in which one man and his legal team can mount this delay strategy which could very well deny every citizen of the United States the opportunity to have Trump judged in a court of law regarding the various charges against him. Don’t we, as citizens of this country, have a right to have these cases adjudicated? Apparently not.
I honestly don’t know what the answer is or even if there is an answer, but it just seems to confirm the belief that there are two systems of justice in this country – one for all of us normal people and one for rich and powerful people who can legally abuse the system. If Trump were to stand trial and ultimately be acquitted of all charges, I would accept that. I wouldn’t be happy, but I would accept it. However, if he escapes his current legal morass by simply continuing to throw monkey wrench after monkey wrench into the process, I, and I believe most Americans, will feel robbed and angry.
Most Americans would agree that the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ principle that lies at the core of our legal system. However, denying the victims in any case, and in particular these cases that have such serious potential consequences for the country, the opportunity to have these cases decided in a court of law would be a huge stain on the entire jurisprudence system of the United States.
Everyone is entitled to due process. However, there don’t appear to be any safeguards against abuses of the process! And as we all know by now, Trump is an expert at abusing processes. We can only hope that justice will not be denied because justice has been delayed.
