Tuesday's surrender of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges was marked by fights between his supporters and opponents outside a Manhattan courtroom and a familiar cycle of name-calling and fury from Congress and Trump himself.
But many Americans who claim to be following this case and other Trump-related investigations do not want to score political points; rather, they hope the U.S. democracy will deliver justice.
Carla Sambula claimed she drove an hour from Rockland County, New York, to wait in line outside a Manhattan courthouse to watch Trump's arraignment in person. "It's hard to say if they'll get it right, especially as a woman of colour," said Sambula, a Black woman who had not voted since 2008, when she supported President Obama.
Gallup polling indicates that Americans' trust in institutions such as Congress, television news, and the presidency plummeted to its lowest average level in more than four decades in 2017. Only 14% of respondents said they have a great deal or "quite a lot" of faith in the criminal justice system, half the percentage from a decade ago.
As the nation prepares for a 2024 presidential election in which Trump is the top GOP candidate, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's lawsuit is the first of many involving Trump. Tuesday, Trump pled not guilty.
Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer and law professor at the University of Minnesota, remarked, "There's a lot of cynicism on the far right and the far left," Both sides have converged on the notion that "the law is not about law, it is just about politics and power."
Trump has complained for years that law enforcement was targeting him for political reasons, and his abuse has intensified since the New York case came to light.
Trump urged his fellow Republicans in Congress to cut funding for the Justice Department and the FBI on Wednesday. Several Republican legislators are concerned that this case tests whether the government may be used as a weapon against unpopular leaders.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that over half of Americans, including 36 per cent of Democrats, believe the investigations into Republican Trump are politically motivated. In the meantime, fifty per cent of people, including thirty per cent of Republicans, believe Trump and some members of the Republican party are attempting to delegitimize law enforcement to prevent charges against Trump.
70% of Americans disagree with the notion that U.S. presidents should enjoy immunity from all except the most severe criminal accusations, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. People concur that no one in the United States should be "above the law."
The U.S. legal system will be under tremendous scrutiny in the coming months as several investigations proceed.
The Manhattan case involving hush money paid to a pornstar might take up to a year. Trump's attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia may end in an indictment this spring. The Department of Justice also probes Trump's retention of confidential materials and a related transfer-of-power issue. This month, a civil trial on Dominion's defamation claims against Fox News regarding the 2020 election could begin.
"One of the tenets of democracy is holding elected officials accountable. Typically, we think about this in a political context, but when crimes have been committed, it also applies legally. "Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal and advocacy organization, stated.
The avalanche of legal cases against Trump "could signal an era where presidential actions are subjected to legal accountability moving forward," Warren added.
Amir Ali, executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, cited the disproportionate incarceration of minorities and low-income individuals in the United States and stated that the system "has routinely given people with power a free pass."
"The criminal legal system can punch down - it's proven that, and oppressively so," Ali added.
Yusef Salaam, one of five Black teens unfairly convicted in a 1989 rape case, penned a full-page newspaper advertisement calling for Salaam and others nicknamed the "Central Park Five" to face the death penalty, mimicking an ad Trump paid for decades before.
Even though you effectively called for my death and the deaths of four other innocent children thirty-four years ago, I wish you no ill will, Salaam, a Democratic candidate for the New York City Council, stated in his advertisement. Instead, I have faith in the court system to uncover the truth.
Adav Noti, vice president of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, a government watchdog, stated that the concerns discussed in upcoming trials involving Donald Trump "reflect the fragility of any democracy," "People may try to stay in power illegally," he remarked.
At least two current investigations concern whether Trump attempted to obstruct the constitutional transition of power to his successor, the Democrat Joe Biden. Trump continues to say erroneously that he lost the 2020 election due to extensive voter fraud.
Noti stated that to prevent the sabotage of future elections, "high-level people to do prison time for trying to overturn the 2020 election,"
He stated, "There's a good reason" for Americans' pessimism. Yet, "it doesn't have to be this way."
