'Unmistakable message': Kansas City Star editor urges judge to make 'shocking' decision

The election marked a first in United States' 248-year history when Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris while awaiting sentencing on 34 criminal charges. The president-elect has faced criminal indictments in three other cases as well.

Justice Juan Merchan is scheduled to sentence Trump on those 34 charges on Nov. 26.

In an op-ed published by the Kansas City Star on Friday, journalist Bill Dalton argued that Merchan can honor "the rule of law" — by throwing the book at Trump.

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"On November 5," Dalton writes, "the American people did the unthinkable — they elected a convicted felon president. Judge Juan Merchan should now do what was once unthinkable — force a president-elect to take the oath of office in a jail cell.

“After taking the oath on January 20, Donald J. Trump's first act of his second term undoubtedly would be to try to pardon himself and walk out a free man. But the surreal scene, while certainly shocking for the rest of the free world to witness, would send an unmistakable message — the rule of law still rules in America."

Dalton continues, "That message needs to be sent because, after Inauguration Day, the rule of law will cease to exist for sitting presidents thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's immunity ruling. Trump proved Tuesday, aided and abetted by 72 million voters, that crime does indeed pay. He thumbed his nose at America's once respected system of justice. He made a laughingstock of prosecutors and the judicial process. He turned what used to be a political liability for candidates into a political asset for fundraising."

Dalton argued that Merchan "should sentence and jail Trump while he is still a private citizen, no better nor more privileged than any of the millions of people who voted for or against him."

"Merchan should show the same courage that Vice President Mike Pence showed on January 6 when he stood for the rule of law, risking his life and destroying his political career in the process," Dalton wrote.

"Trump's election should not alter Merchan's judgment on whether jail time is justified or not. Even if it's sentencing Trump to serve only the day of January 20 — an extremely light sentence for 34 felony convictions — it would reinforce what used to be a judicial cornerstone: No one is above the law. If that principle no longer means anything in America, then more was lost on Election Day than just Kamala Harris' race for president."

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