Republicans Upset by Trump’s Conviction Should Embrace Criminal Justice Reform
As a general rule in politics and public policy, I’d suggest applying one’s principles as consistently as possible. It’s hard to be taken seriously if, say, you want the feds to prosecute your political opponents on some ill-defined charges—and then complain about the “weaponization” of the justice system when you or your allies are in the dock. Just saying.
One of my oft-stated warnings for those, on the Left or Right, who advocate for new laws, more regulation, and broader powers for police agencies: First consider how these powers might be wielded in the hands of your enemies. Many “well-intentioned” laws have been twisted in ways that the authors never envisioned. Sometimes the reasons are nefarious, other times the result of bureaucratic inertia.
During the 1980s War on Drugs, the U.S. Department of Justice created civil asset forfeiture laws that empowered the government to grab the property of drug cartels. It quickly became a means for police agencies to steal cars and cash from ordinary Americans, many of whom had never been convicted of or accused of a crime. The criminal justice reform movement has been trying to reform those and other unjust laws for years, but governments are amazingly resistant to change.
But perhaps that movement is ready to welcome a large group of Americans who previously had shown little interest in the inner workings of the justice system. Now that former President Donald Trump is a convicted felon—and faces other state and federal charges in a variety of prosecutions—the Make America Great Again movement has suddenly discovered the evils of politicized prosecutions, inequities in the justice system, and fear of police abuse. MAGA hasn’t gotten the requisite takeaways yet, so I’m spelling it out for them.
Before Trump showed up on the political scene, the nation was heading toward a new consensus about the criminal justice system. The forfeiture issue had become a bipartisan concern given its abuses. Liberal groups had long complained about police abuse, but prominent conservatives also came to realize that bad policing costs taxpayers a lot of money and undermines good policing. Incarceration levels and costs soared, which provided impetus for change.
However, Trump’s 2016 election polarized the electorate. The excesses of Black Lives Matter and “defund the police” hardened the battle lines, especially after protests and riots following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. COVID-19 struck and crime rates increased. Conservatives went all in on “backing the badge.” We found ourselves in the same old place, with little room for bipartisan anything.
Trump made matters worse with his rhetoric. There was the time he joked to a crowd of police officers that they shouldn’t protect suspects’ heads when putting them in squad cars. He denies it now, but Trump seemed to encourage crowds to chant “lock her up” referring to Hillary Clinton. It’s hard to keep track of the numb
Article from Reason.com
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