The goddess Themis holds a sword in her left hand and a scale in her right. The scale weighs arguments to achieve a just result. The sword punishes those who have violated the law. Themis is blindfolded because the law doesn’t distinguish between man or woman, black or white, rich or poor. The law also shouldn’t find guilt or innocence based on likability or political affiliation.
As should be the case with Roger Stone, the hyperbolic political consultant who was recently charged with obstruction, witness tampering, and five counts of making false statements.
Stone is one of the most flamboyant provocateurs you’ll come across in Washington, and his behavior during and leading up to his case serves as no excuse.
In an alleged attempt to alter testimony, Stone told his associate Randy Credico to avoid contradicting Stone’s testimony at a congressional hearing. The self-described “dirty trickster” later accused Credico of being a rat and threatened to steal his therapy dog, a 13-year-old Coton de Tulear called Bianca.
But should his foul-mouthed persona play a part in the court’s decision in whether Themis’ scale tilts for or against him?
The answer is no. It’s easy for us to treat a good and just person fairly in front of the law, but due process must be applied evenly – including to Roger Stone.
It’s still unclear whether Stone received a fair trial. We know now that the jury's foreperson, Tomeka Hart, may have injected her own personal bias into the decision.
Hart’s active social media profile should have come into question when selecting jurors, a quick Google search could have found Hart’s posts attacking the Trump administration, including a tweet quoting someone who referred to Trump as a “#KlanPresident.”
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After prosecutors in the Stone case stepped down during the trial, Hart continued to be an active voice on social media, posting to her Facebook profile that she wanted to “stand up” for the four prosecutors who withdrew from the case and that she could not “keep quiet any longer.”
Tomeka Hart doesn’t sound like an impartial juror and her social media profiles should have been enough of a red flag to excuse Hart. If her bias was known, either the court would have dismissed Hart as a biased juror or Stone’s attorneys would have requested the court dismiss Hart for cause.
The juror’s political bias leads me to ask the question, does the partisan divide in the nation’s political landscape make it impossible for us to have a fair legal system?
As James Madison said, “The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority’s ability to harm the minority.”
Regardless of political views, every American has the right to a fair trial, that’s what makes our legal system so great. Judges and attorneys in the criminal justice system realize that defendants aren’t entitled to a perfect trial, but they are entitled to a fair trial.
Roger Stone’s long history may preclude him from ever having a perfect trial, but he must be given appropriate due process.
Someday people will forget about Roger Stone. He will serve his sentence and the country will move on. But we must still recognize that even jerks deserve due process.
Congressman Ken Buck is a former prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and has represented Colorado’s 4th Congressional District since 2015. Rep. Buck serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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