EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
Do you think our area believes in democracy? In India, the most populous country in the world, they arrange their elections in 6 phases. Already, 5 phases are over. Each phase so far has had a voter turnout of over 60%. Compared to Orange, NJ, only about 16% came out. Other elections also have a pitiful turnout, especially for School Board.
Former President Donald Trump’s defense team has already made their closing arguments. However, the judge gave instructions to the defense team not to speak about the law in their closing arguments. Judge Merchan mentioned that he will explain the law to the jurors pertaining to the case on how they should deliberate. The judges are supposed to be neutral, not taking any sides. This seems like the judge wants to sway the jurors.
The hush money case is so flawed that if Trump is found guilty, it is wide open for an appeal to a higher court, which will take a while to take. There is a strong case it could be overturned. From what some have told me, the purpose of getting the case tried was to get a guilty verdict, and then for Democrats to label Trump as a convict on the campaign trail, hoping people would not vote for a convict. However, with the way the court case was conducted, it could backfire, and Trump may get more support.
This is the first criminal trial against former president. The next criminal trial was supposed to be the documents case in Florida. However, Judge Cannon has pushed the case back for the time being. Cannon was appointed by Donald Trump.
According to Fox News: “A federal judge on Tuesday denied Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for a gag order on former President Donald Trump in his classified documents case after defense attorneys called it ‘unconstitutional censorship.’”
If the gag order was in place, Trump cannot defend himself at his election rallies and events. However, Judge Cannon has rejected the prosecutor’s request to have a gag order against Trump. Trump is running the President of the United States, and he has to defend himself to the people of America. The gag order was a political sway by Judge Merchan in the other case. The gag order was not implemented on Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who was the main witness in the criminal case. Cohen could have definitely influenced potential jurors with his comments.
Right now, mayors, governors and presidents suggest one name to be appointed as a judge and it gets approved by the councilpersons, assemblypersons and state senate, congresspersons, and U.S. senators. As I have noticed over the years, most of the time the council is controlled by the mayor and his/her choice of a judge gets approved easily. This goes also for state judiciary and federal judiciary. In my opinion, the mayor, the governor and the president should suggest two or three names and all of the attorneys (lawyers) of a constituency should vote for the judge. Right now, judges impact rulings when it comes to mayor, governor or president, and with certain people, they will be lenient or too strict in their judgment. To avoid this confusion and political impact on the judgments, I have suggested this. It is up to the readers if you agree. Please write to me at localtalknews@gmail.com.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
