LETTER: Don’t delay Donald Trump’s sentencing
William Gladstone is widely renowned for declaring, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” In its original context, the phrase conveyed the sense that a victim is further injured if justice is not rendered in a timely fashion. Furthermore, the Sixth Amendment guarantees defendants the opportunity to defend themselves in a speedy, timely fashion.
Today, the nation finds itself facing the real potential that Donald Trump will escape sentencing for his multiple guilty verdicts until after he leaves office … in 2029. Mr. Trump, then a private citizen, in consideration of his rights under the Sixth Amendment, was found guilty by an apolitical jury of his peers. Department of Justice historical precedent dictates that a sitting president — and by inference a president-elect — cannot be tried or imprisoned while “in office.” The deference to these two protections is a clear tenet that sets the U.S. justice system above much of the rest of the world.
However, in the case of Mr. Trump, it is the citizens of this country and our system of jurisprudence that will be the victims of denied justice if Judge Juan Merchan delays sentencing. Precedent can be preserved if he sentences Mr. Trump next month, as planned, to whatever he deems appropriate. The judge should declare for the sentence to commence on Jan. 21 2029, the day after Mr. Trump leaves office. There is no reason for justice to be delayed and, more importantly, denied. Americans are entitled to nothing less.