Against Unanimity

Sowing doubt in America’s Justice System

June 1

Yesterday, at the Washington DC headquarters of The Federalist Society America’s flag flew upside down. (1) Presumably, this signaled that America has entered a new phase in the 2024 Election: what had been a campaign between two former Presidents, both with earnest backing of their respective parties, has become a vindication that America’s justice system has failed the American people.

The flag was not flying upside down on May 30, the day 12 jurors in New York unanimously agreed to convict a former President on 34 felony charges.

America’s media hoisted not flags but ‘what ifs.’ Beyond the headlines announcing “Guilty,” there was speculation that the re-election future had swung towards President Joe Biden, perhaps not to return to his opponent before Election Day.

Will the fact that Trump is a felon come up during the first Presidential debate, June 27, two weeks before Trump’s sentencing? Will Trump be placed under house arrest, unable to leave New York City without a (probation) court appeal?

Will the former President’s Secret Service detail be bivouacked on the grounds of Riker’s Island?

Like the Federalist Society flagpole, the post-verdict media gestures chimed a bespoke acquittal — Trump as former…