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Merchan delays Trump's sentencing until after the election [1]

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Date: 2024-09-06  

Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the NY trial and conviction of Donald Trump, has now delayed the sentencing of the convicted defendant until November 26—three weeks after the election. Merchan explained the following:

“This is not a decision this court makes lightly but it is the decision which in this court’s view, best advances the interests of justice,” noting that “this matter is one that stands alone, in a unique place in this nation’s history.”

What Judge Merchan has not made clear, however, is how the delay advances the interests of justice. Why is this convicted defendant allowed to remain free. Trump’s defense team contended that a sentence would be prejudicial to voters. Huh? How is being informed a form of prejudice? Don’t voters have a right to know if a candidate for president may be serving time in prison? And don’t miss the irony— his conviction is for falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment so that voters in 2016 would not learn about his tawdry sexual affair.

So let’s fast forward to November 26; there are two scenarios:

1. Trump loses the election; what sentence does Merchan pose?

2. Trump wins the election (gag); what sentence does Merchan impose?

If the answer to question 1 is different from question 2, then justice is not being served. If the sentence in either instance is no jail time, shouldn’t we know that now? If, on the other hand, it is jail time, then we could have a sitting president who starts his term behind bars.

I don’t think that’s likely, which leads me to conclude that the outcome of the election will have an influence on the sentence. And this is just plain wrong. Only the facts of the case, the defendant’s prior criminal history, and his acceptance or refusal to accept responsibility of his actions should determine the sentence. Whether or not the defendant was subsequently elected to an office has no bearing on the sentence that he should face for a prior crime.

A delay of three weeks is also problematic because you can bet that if Trump loses the election, we’ll be mired in continued legal wrangling about how it was “stolen.” Imagining that the fallout from the election will have settled in three weeks is unrealistic. Trump tried everything to cling to power in 2020, into January of 2021, when he wasn’t facing the consequences of a conviction. What lengths will he pursue now that this sentence is pending?

Up until now, Merchan has received high praise before and during the trial for his professional conduct of the trial. But by issuing this delay he has damaged his credibility and his judicial reasoning. The matter deserves clarity, not more uncertainty.

He should have paid closer attention to the words of Judge Chutkan in yesterday’s scheduling hearing in the federal trial of Trump for January 6. She wisely rejected the Trump claim that the presidential election has a bearing on the issue of justice.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/6/2248572/-Merchan-delays-Trump-s-sentencing-until-after-the-election?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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