I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states. But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday. The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot.
It would have punished the defendant for something a witness was accused of doing. Even if what Costello did was wrong, and it was not, it would be utterly improper and unlawful to strike his testimony — testimony that undercut and contradicted the government’s star witness. The judge’s threat was absolutely outrageous, unethical, unlawful and petty.
They spin the events so much that reality is totally distorted. I experienced that distortion firsthand yesterday, when I saw one of my former students and research assistants, a CNN legal analyst named Norman Eisen, during a break and went over to him and asked him about his family. We chatted for a few minutes in the most friendly way. But NBC, the Daily Beast and other media decided to make up a story about the event.
Once television came along and everyone could watch the games live, the accounts became far more accurate, because we could see everything for ourselves. A similar phenomenon would operate if trials were televised; it would force commentators to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Today there is no check on partisan reporting of trials and exaggerations and personal opinions are rampant. The American public is the loser.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax: Anti-US Radicalization of Students DangerousHarvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Friday the anti-Israel protests that have been rocking college campuses, leading to thousands of arrests, are a symbol of a deeper and more dangerous problem.
Source: NEWSMAX - 🏆 16. / 71 Read more »
Source: ABC7NY - 🏆 592. / 51 Read more »