Could former Prez Trump’s indictment have a salutary impact on how the far left views prosecutors and on how the far right views defendants?

I expect to mostly avoid blogging much about the criminal prosecution (or prosecutions) of former Prez Donald Trump unless and until sentencing issues arise, in part because there will be plenty of coverage in plenty of other legal spaces.  (Of course, as prosecutors and defense attorneys know well, in any criminal case that could be resolved through a plea, sentencing-related considerations should be on lawyers’ minds even before an indictment.  But I surmise the prospects of a guilty plea by Trump to the charges he is now facing in New York are, at least right now, quite low.)

That all said, against the backdrop of former Prez Trump’s indictment, I was struck by a passage in this new Washington Post op-ed by a 3L at Stanford Law School lamenting the polarization she see among classmates in her law school environment:

The far-left students have a dismissive shorthand for fellow students whose politics they consider not sufficiently progressive: “future prosecutors.”  The message is loud and clear — prosecutors are the bad guys.  But also: Be careful what you say.

I often think of one of my first-year professors, who was appalled by these students’ stigmatizing of the prosecutorial role.  He asked one: Given that prosecutors decide whether and what charges to bring against a defendant, isn’t it preferable for well-qualified people to fill the role?  Without missing a beat, the student responded: No, being a prosecutor is simply evil.

Two years later, students in evidence class are clearly aware of the stigma.  When two students are given a choice to explain from the perspective of a prosecutor or defense attorney how certain evidence should be entered into the record, the first student almost invariably opts for defense attorney; then the other student makes a joke or a comment signaling displeasure at being stuck with the role of prosecutor.  Just about the only time someone chooses to play prosecutor is for a murder or rape case.

For starters, I am quite pleased to report that I do not see such extreme polarization or demonization of prosecutors at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  For many years, I have had students readily volunteer in my role plays as prosecutors and defense attorneys in a range of cases and settings.  And I regularly (and enthusiastically) advise any number of students who are eager to become prosecutors after they graduate.  I fear Stanford Law is not a complete outlier with the student dyanmics described in this op-ed, but I know these dynamics do not define all law schools.

And, ever eager to see silver linings in all kinds of clouds, this passage about far-left biases against prosecutors got me to thinking about how Trump’s legal woes might reshape criminal justice valences on both the left and the right.  We have already see this playing out to some degree with the January 6th criminal defendants, who are getting visits and other form of support from GOP legislators and other far-right supporters.  In turn, we surely should not expect students at Stanford Law (or other far-left voices) to be calling Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg or any other prosecutor investigating former Prez Trump “simply evil” anytime soon.  The reshaping of far-left perceptions of prosecutors in this context may come not only from Trump investigations, but also from the eagerness of some far-right folks to be calling DA Bragg “evil.”   

The WaPo op-ed concludes by expressing some hope that more law students will make more efforts in the classroom to advance the “thoughtful exchanging of views that is essential to the legal profession.”   And I will conclude this post hoping that not everyone thinks I am crazy to hope that former Prez Trump’s indictment might possibly reduce rather than increase a form of extremism that can harm law school and the legal profession more broadly.