Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

President-elect Trump has vowed to seek revenge on those who brought lawsuits and criminal charges against him and his company.

He has made truculent comments about attorneys Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, Fani Willis, and others, including the valiant Liz Cheney. So, what can we expect from incoming President Trump and his appointees?

Firstly, I believe these appointees should look at what happened to Trump’s first batch of obedient lawyers. How are Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Ken Chesbro, Jenna Ellis, and others doing these days?

They have been indicted and sued. Some have pled guilty and most of them risk losing their law licenses.

At least one has been ruled to be in contempt of court. The new appointees need to remind themselves they are officers of the court.

Secondly, we should all remember that randomly selected ordinary citizens will make the vital and final decisions, such as whether or not to return a true bill from the Grand Jury and whether to convict beyond a reasonable doubt at the trial, if there is one. Juries are the bedrock of our judicial system.

Go back and read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, especially the Sixth and Seventh Amendments. Nothing was more important to our Founders than jury trials
Overreaching and politically motivated prosecutors are checked by these well intended and informed citizens who bring with them when summoned to serve on a jury their consciences and their common sense, and who have neither enemies to punish nor friends to reward.

Thirdly, solid and honorable judges who know and apply the law fairly and who are protected by their lifetime appointments will not allow these prosecutors to violate their oaths and abuse their offices.  

Let us reflect and be thankful for how our guarantees of due process of law and our jury system help, in the words of the Preamble “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”.

Joel Collins