To the Editor:
Re “Responsible: Jury Convicts Trump on All 34 Counts” (entrance web page, Might 31):
I used to be overcome with a way of giddiness on Thursday afternoon as I walked by means of Manhattan and information broke that former President Donald Trump had been convicted on 34 felony counts.
I used to be glued to the reside information updates on my telephone, and shortly sufficient messages started pouring in from like-minded associates who shared my sense of satisfaction that the justice system is alive and nicely, and that the decision confirmed us that nobody is above the regulation.
Nonetheless, it took mere minutes earlier than a extra sober actuality set in, and I contemplated how the decision will seemingly play into the strategic palms of Mr. Trump’s marketing campaign, energizing his ardent supporters, even perhaps working in his favor amongst some sympathetic swing voters.
That so many people discover that morally offensive and reprehensible, whereas so a lot of our fellow Individuals merely don’t, reaffirms how deeply and dangerously divided this nation actually is.
Cody Lyon
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
Our system of legal guidelines has spoken. A jury of his friends discovered Donald Trump responsible on all counts in what was alleged to be the weakest of the felony instances towards the previous president.
Sadly, our Structure doesn’t prohibit a convicted felon from working for president; it even permits an elected candidate who has been criminally convicted to manipulate, even from jail.
If the Republican Social gathering continues to enthusiastically assist the presidential candidacy of a convicted felon, it is going to be not solely on the peril of our American political social gathering system, however most consequentially on the peril of our democratic future.
Alejandro Lugo
Park Forest, Ailing.
To the Editor:
I’m a progressive Democrat within the Pacific Northwest. I wish to thank D.A. Alvin Bragg and his crew — and Justice Juan Merchan and the jury of New Yorkers — for his or her braveness, perseverance and steadfastness within the matter of New York v. Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump misplaced his trial. American justice gained. Obfuscation and deception misplaced.
All Individuals are higher off at present.
John R. Scannell
Sammamish, Wash.
To the Editor:
No, Donald, Justice Juan Merchan shouldn’t be corrupt; he’s meticulous and sincere. However you wouldn’t know find out how to acknowledge honesty.
No, Donald, the trial wasn’t rigged. It adopted prescribed procedures for giving consideration to precise information and the necessities of the regulation. However you wouldn’t know true information because you unfold thick and widespread lies to cowl up your felonies.
No, Donald, this wasn’t political retribution, though that’s what you retain promising should you ever set foot within the White Home once more. It was bringing you to authorized accountability, as a result of even presidents aren’t above the regulation.
Bruce Joffe
Piedmont, Calif.
To the Editor:
I’d by no means vote for Donald Trump, however this specific prosecution was mistaken. When an overtly partisan prosecutor costs his political social gathering’s most important opponent for president, there’s a powerful look of bias — actually stronger than from Samuel Alito’s spouse flying flags.
The looks may be rebutted if the case is so robust that not bringing it wasn’t an possibility — like a prosecution for taking pictures somebody on Fifth Avenue. This case wasn’t wherever close to that clear-cut, so the looks of a biased prosecution stays. For as soon as, Mr. Trump’s claims of victimhood ring true.
Mr. Trump acquired impeached (rightly) for the way in which he used his workplace to focus on a political opponent. The identical accusation may be plausibly made towards the Manhattan district lawyer, Alvin Bragg. Destroying key norms so as to derail a norms-destroying politician is like destroying a village so as to reserve it.
Ilya Shlyakhter
Belmont, Mass.
To the Editor:
The day that homosexual marriage grew to become authorized, on a sometimes various Manhattan subway, my husband and I congratulated two males who have been clearly on their manner from having simply married at Metropolis Corridor. The gang round us spontaneously erupted in cheers and applause, and I used to be pleased with my metropolis.
Thursday evening I obtained a textual content from a good friend that Donald Trump had simply been convicted on all 34 counts. I used to be on a prepare automotive stuffed with commuters that was simply approaching Jamaica station in Queens.
I blurted out the information to my fellow passengers. I’m undecided what I anticipated, however maybe an analogous expertise of shared elation, or a minimum of satisfaction, within the independence of the judicial system.
Quite the opposite. Most riders confirmed no response and went again to their telephones. A person in his 30s glared at me. A middle-aged man in scrubs, sitting behind me, urgently, and puzzlingly, stated, “Kamala is a liar!” Solely the younger girl sitting subsequent to me smiled mildly earlier than returning her consideration to her telephone.
These of us who hope to influence sufficient residents that American democracy is in danger and price saving this November nonetheless have a variety of work to do.
Cecilia Martin Ford
East Hampton, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Lengthy in spite of everything of us are gone, sociologists, authors and dramatists will speculate on how so many on this nation might grow to be enthralled by the apparent criminality of Donald Trump. A good portion of our society sees his conviction as additional proof of his innocence. He could also be proper; he might shoot a person in the midst of Fifth Avenue and lose no votes.
That is why this case is so essential. It gives one other marker for these future historians to know that not all of us have been fooled.
John Cork
Marietta, Ga.
To the Editor:
A jury of 12 brave residents did what Republican leaders refuse to do. They held Donald Trump accountable.
They didn’t succumb to bullying or intimidation. They used their widespread sense, adopted the information and reached a unanimous resolution in a remarkably brief time period.
Whereas I stay deeply involved concerning the corruption and bias within the Supreme Court docket, these jurors restored my religion within the judicial system on the bottom stage.
They gave up seven weeks of their lives to do their obligation, they usually make me really feel hopeful that our democracy stays robust and can survive.
Susan Shelton
Falmouth, Mass.
To the Editor:
I’m a Republican-leaning By no means Trumper. I refused to vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 regardless of adverse views about his opponents. I had dedicated to do the identical this fall.
However Thursday’s verdict has me reconsidering my place. The prosecutor ran for workplace committing himself to search out some foundation to prosecute a selected political determine. The prosecution was then launched utilizing slightly recognized and barely used felony concept in a wholly new context. Can anybody severely consider that any individual apart from Donald Trump would have been subjected to this?
As an American, and one who occurs to be a lawyer, I discover this greater than scary. Possibly I have to vote for Mr. Trump.
Colin Smith
Warrenton, Va.
To the Editor:
The rule of regulation survived its greatest check. Donald Trump can not be referred to as Teflon Don. He’s now a convicted felon. The query now: Is that whom America needs as a candidate for president?
Susan Berger
Highland Park, Ailing.
