“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
These are our legal rights as citizens as contained in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S Constitution.
The same legal rights apply to the president as one citizen among many others.
The basic, long-standing understandingof our republic is that no one is above the law. It’s why we rebelled agaimst the notion of one person, the king of England, having unlimited power.
I’m not a lawyer nor have I specialized in moral law, but I am not lacking common sense. I believe in the ethical principle as stated by the 19th century British Prime Minister William Gladstone and later by the Rev. Martin Luther KIng Jr.: “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
I hope the U.S. Supreme Court decision to review whether former President Donald Trump claim of having immunity from prosecution from alleged criminal acts will not delay him being tried for alleged actions related to the attempted coup of our election process on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump deserves a speedy and public trial with an impartial jury. He must be assumed innocent until proved otherwise by a jury of his peers, and he has the right to call witnesses on his behalf and to have the best legal counsel he can afford.
The American public deserves to know what a jury says about the former president’s guilt or innocence before the next presidential election in November. You would hope he would want to clear his name before a jury of his peers.
Hopefully, the court will agree that no president is above the law, and this will result in a trial before the next election, for the former president’s sake and ours.
The Supreme Court lately is not held in much esteem by the public. In fact, according to a recent Gallup Poll only 49% of respondents have trust and confidence in the justices, close to the 47% record low.
Perhaps by affirming that no one is above the law, the Supreme Court might affirm the saying above its entrance: “Equal Justice Under Law.”
John C. Morgan is an author and teacher whose columns can be found at www.readingeagle.com.
