Donald Trump’s Hot Take On Law And Order Probably Most Definitely Violates The 8th Amendment

// At over 50 years running, the Drug War’s stamina in the face of prolonged failure makes Rocky Balboa look like a quitter. As a country we’ve done everything we could think of to resolve it, ranging from largely ineffective jail sentences and harsh policing strategies to… yeah that’s pretty much been the name of the game.

Donald Trump, innovative genius that he is, has a solution to our generational problem — the death penalty.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

In his 'America First' speech in DC, Trump goes on a long tangent about how the US needs to copy China and other authoritarian countries by executing all drug dealers after a "very quick trial," claiming those countries have "no drug problem whatsoever." pic.twitter.com/MqjzrQJOdX

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 26, 2022

Sponsored Why This CRM Is Different From The Others The legal CRM software designed entirely by lawyers is now available to the public. See what it can offer your practice. From Matterly and Above The Law

You heard it here folks. Tim Allen? Should be dead. Kid Rock? Dead. Idris Elba? Dead. All three of them, among many others, are a few examples of folks that dealt drugs that could have been killed if more people shared Trump’s view. And it’s not just them. That soccer mom you know that knows a guy that no one expects? Hell, a couple of the kids you went to law school with. You get my point. I could also go in on the staggered applause at about 1:10 that almost turned into a please clap, but I’ll address him on the merits of his claims.

First, this is a bold advocacy for violating international law. Second, he’s just wrong. Take Indonesia. Last year they imposed 89 death sentences for drug dealing. You’d think that would prevent it from being one of the largest drug markets in Asia, but you’d be wrong. And really, that’s the standard for determining if there is a drug problem in a foreign country? Just ask their leader and take whatever their response is as the gospel truth? China has a history of either refusing to give accurate data or information altogether when asked for it. Why wouldn’t they lie about drug usage? And even if China were honest, data suggests that they would be the lone anomaly:

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

There is no evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to the drug trade – in fact, according to available estimates, drug markets continue to thrive around the world, despite drug laws in almost every country being grounded in a punitive approach.

I’d like to think that somebody ran this information by Trump before he keeps parroting the same talking points, but it looks like it was to no avail.

Sponsored Sponsored What Biglaw Leaders Are Planning For Their Tech Our new survey sheds light on what may be in store for firms. From Wolters Kluwer and Above The Law Sponsored Meet LINK: The Easy Way To Handle All Your Document Workflows On Your Mobile Device In A Single App LINK offers the single-app workflows you need to fully work on your documents and manage your email from your mobile devices, anytime and anywhere. From Above the Law Sponsored 3 Ways To Make The Legal Department More Effective And Agile Concrete steps to transform your team into a strategic force. From Conga and Above The Law Sponsored GCs: How Effective Is Your Data Tracking And Reporting? Join us on August 3rd to learn from the best. From SpotDraft and Above The Law

Here’s him in 2020:

Trump suggests he'd like to model American criminal law on drug dealing on authoritarian systems like China, where dealers are executed: "Countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China." pic.twitter.com/9WprysjJAX

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2020

He was as wrong then as he was now. Here’s an article stating that the drug problem in Indonesia worsened despite hanging drug dealers. I wish the Fake News guy relied less on fabrications when he speaks at the pulpit. The truth is that the Drug War outranks Vietnam when it comes to this country having its ass handed to it. Rather than killing people or conspiring that Biden smuggled in fentanyl to kill Trump voters, we should cut our losses and focus on what actually works — education, harm reduction and the amelioration of circumstances that incentivize people to sell drugs like poverty and a dearth of legal job prospects. Sentencing a 34 year old dude with kids to life in prison is a damned shame. Killing him would not have faired any better.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

“Drug prohibition and the criminalization of people who sell or distribute drugs  does not reduce the harms of drug use or improve public safety. Our current approach is built on a foundation of stigma, ignorance and fear rather than evidence, and creates new problems while doing nothing to solve those that already exist.” – Drugpolicy.org

We’d be better off treating the War on Drugs like the public health crisis it is. Unfortunately, everything looks like a target when the NRA is damned near handing out guns.

Sponsored Sponsored Why This CRM Is Different From The Others The legal CRM software designed entirely by lawyers is now available to the public. See what it can offer your practice. From Matterly and Above The Law Sponsored GCs: How Effective Is Your Data Tracking And Reporting? Join us on August 3rd to learn from the best. From SpotDraft and Above The Law

Trump Calls For ‘Quick’ Death Penalty For Drug Dealers As He Describes US ‘Going To Hell Very Fast’ [Independent]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

Topics

Death Penalty, Donald Trump, Drug War, Rehabilitation