The joke has become a sad cliche in the USA “justice” system. We are not even sure where it originated.
Some say it was from a New York judge, Sol Wachtler, who was appalled at the grand jury process being
so one-sided and unfair. Wachtler was the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals 1985 – 1992. He was
absolutely correct then and it is truer today. Grand juries are a joke, they are “ham sandwiches” and this
is due to the unfair and one-sided domination by District Attorneys, County Attorneys, and any other
prosecutor nationwide.
The entire world has just witnessed a huge example of this “legal” joke with former President Donald
Trump’s more than 100 indictments from grand juries in four different jurisdictions demonstrates, that were obtained
from grand juries consisting of citizens looking at “all” the evidence to determine if enough evidence
existed to have the former president arrested. Except there is one gargantuan problem here; these grand
juries were NOT allowed to see ANY evidence from the accused. And this is not unique to President Trump.
It happens to all Americans throughout nation! Prosecutors do not allow grand juries anywhere to see
or hear anything from the accused. Grand juries are supposed to be independent, examining accusations
made against people to see if they should stand trial. Who would not be indicted if one’s enemies were
the only citizens to serve on the grand jury? That also happened to Trump during the January 6th hearings.
Only Trump enemies were allowed to run the hearing. And today, every accused American whose case
goes before a grand jury, gets the same thing, a “ham sandwich” joke that is devoid of any due process or
fairness.
So, what do we do? Well, this gives Donald Trump and his team a chance to save us all from this abuse and
corruption. President Trump should challenge the findings of each grand jury on a solid constitutional basis.
He and thousands just like him, have been railroaded through by prosecutors who are 99% assured of an
indictment. It’s a done deal before the first juror is even chosen. The juries hear nothing from the accused. Is this
the American way? Is it in accordance with the assumption of innocence that the accused is guaranteed
in our system of justice?
The Fifth and Sixth Amendments to our United States Constitution guarantee our rights to due process. There
is no exception for prosecutors or grand juries. President Trump, please challenge the “ham sandwich” indictments
you received, if not for you, then for the thousands of Americans who this happens to every year.
By Sheriff Richard Mack (Ret)