Morality and Respect for Laws

Dear Readers, Laws define us as a people. We are neither a theocracy, a monarchy, or an autocracy; we are a nation “conceived in Liberty,” through the laws by which we choose to be governed and respect for them.

You do not really ponder the foundational truism of laws in your daily life. Taxes are paid begrudgingly because the law requires it; ignoring this civic responsibility might land one in prison. 

The legal system suppresses vigilantism. Someone crosses you, and you do not kill them because of the certain legal consequences of conviction. A child molester is caught, and the parents trust in the criminal justice system to punish.  

The civil justice system exacts money as the penalty for malfeasance. Commit a fraud and disgorge the ill-gotten gains and theft. Injure me, and I can seek monetary damages as “payback.”

Laws are meaningless if they are not respected. This country’s political discourse is so venomous we are losing that respect. Dan Rostenkowski was taken down from the lofty perch of Speaker of the House in 1994 by the Clinton Department of Justice for misappropriating $500,000.00 in government funds. Rod Blagojevich was disgraced and imprisoned in 2011 for public corruption in trying to “sell” Barack Obama’s senate seat. John Edwards’ political career evaporated in 2012, even though he was acquitted of federal campaign finance laws trying to muzzle the mother of his illegitimate child. The latter two prosecutions were by the Obama DOJ.

Each of these politicians has a common denominator – prominent Democratic politicians indicted during the administration of Democratic Presidents. Justice was blind even when politics made it politically imprudent; no one assails these as politically motivated witch-hunts.

Politics has corrupted our view of the legal system. Seeds of this distrust were planted in the decades-long campaign to undermine Roe v. Wade. Judges had to pass a litmus test opposing it before nomination.  

The full flower of this corruption has bloomed in the lawsuits against Donald Trump. Defenders of Mr. Trump cast everything as politically motivated. Letiticia James’ civil fraud case exposing Mr. Trump’s decades-long financial shenanigans, Alvin Bragg’s criminal conviction of the Trump Organization for tax evasion, E. Jean Carroll’s defamation and sexual assault lawsuits, and Fani Willis’ expansive RICO criminal election case … each of these because of Joe Biden’s criminal Department of Justice. Except these have nothing to do with federal law and the reach of a sitting President; these are either state officials seeking to reign in outrageous financial practices or an individual woman seeking justice.

We do not live in Russia, where a dictator can have a chief political opponent falsely imprisoned and then assassinated in prison. We are a nation of laws, where a grand jury of citizens indicts a man and another petit or trial jury votes to convict. Or, an individual can bring a lawsuit seeking monetary justice and, again, a trial jury renders judgment. Or, a State can seek civil justice to ensure its financial rules are obeyed and, at least, the aura of an equal playing field is preserved.

At the same time, lawyers have to maintain their professionalism. Prosecutors and state officials are barred from public pronouncements by professional ethics and customs. Jack Smith and his team only speak through court pleadings instead of responding to false allegations of prosecutorial corruption.  

Along comes Fani Willis, and ethical precepts dissolve, lending fodder to the argument that her office’s indictment has a political stank. She is a horrible witness in her own defense. Yes, it is true that her relationship with her assistant, Nathan Wade, has absolutely nothing to do with the criminal case, not a whiff of conflict of interest.

Yet, it is such a cringy soap opera. Ms. Willis is politically illiterate; if she failed to anticipate the scrutiny, she would attract. She is civically illiterate for not acknowledging how unprofessional her sexual fling with Mr. Wade appears. Sure, she is not the one on trial. Of course, there is some gender dysmorphism in sex-shaming a Black woman when many men have done far, far worse. Come on, though, what was she thinking? How can she possibly be so righteously indignant when she is helming a “prosecution of the century”?  

All this does is undermine the public’s trust in her political blindness. Hence, the right thing to do is step down and try to restore public confidence in the criminal process. Every indictment is not politically motivated, but we deserve moral prosecutors.

Warner Robins attorney Jim Rockefeller is the former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Houston County and a former Assistant State Attorney in Miami. Owner of Rockefeller Law Center, Jim has been in private practice since 2000. E-mail your comments or confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com.

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