Opinion: One crime, one man, six trials

Also: Trump’s attacks on the rule of law reach a new level. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, May 21, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist When Americans today look back on the past, many of us wonder how our ancestors could have tolerated blatant injustices — like child labor, Jim Crow or male-only voting — for so long. When future generations look back on our era, I expect they will ask a similar question about mass imprisonment. They will wonder how the United States could have forcibly confined some two million of our fellow human beings to cages. [My column this morning]( tells the story of the unjust imprisonment of a Mississippi man named Curtis Flowers. He has been tried six different times for one crime, and he is the subject of a riveting new podcast, [the second season of “In the Dark,”]( from Madeleine Baran and a team of her colleagues at American Public Media. On related subjects: [Emily Bazelon wrote]( in The Times magazine last year about Noura Jackson’s case, and Bazelon is now working on a book about prosecutors and criminal-justice reform. [Nick Kristof wrote]( about Kevin Cooper’s case this weekend. The rule of law. President Trump’s attempts to turn federal law enforcement into an instrument of mere partisanship — rather than justice — [reached a new level]( over the weekend. He said he would direct the Department of Justice to investigate whether the F.B.I. improperly spied on his campaign. Trump’s directive to open a politically motivated probe “could genuinely produce a crisis” for law enforcement, [writes]( Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution. “This is a nakedly corrupt attempt on the part of the President to derail an investigation of himself at the expense of a human source to whose protection the FBI and DOJ are committed.” Quinta Jurecic and Wittes go into more detail in [this Lawfare article](. Other presidents did nothing like this. Whether Republican or Democrat, they steered well clear of individual investigations, leaving those investigations to the professional — nonpolitical — judgment of Justice Department employees. “Our law is not an instrument of partisan purpose,” said Edward Levi, the Republican-appointed attorney general in the 1970s [who helped create the modern Justice Department](. The law, Levi said, cannot become “anyone’s weapon.” Trump has repeatedly trampled on this tradition — a tradition that’s vital to a well-functioning democracy. Without it, the law simply becomes a weapon for the powerful to use against the powerless, much as it is in an autocracy. The question now is whether Trump’s own Justice Department officials have the courage to buck him. The initial answer isn’t clear. Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, responded to Trump by asking the Justice Department watchdog to expand an existing probe of a government wiretap on a Trump campaign official. In doing so, Rosenstein seems to be trying to satisfy Trump without launching an actual criminal investigation. [The Times said]( that Rosenstein “was trying to thread the needle,” while [The Washington Post called it]( an effort to “avert a larger clash.” Some analysts remained optimistic that the Justice Department would do the right thing. “There are rules,” Georgetown Law’s Carrie Cordero [tweeted]( “and I’m convinced there are people left in this government who will follow them.” Other people were less sanguine. “Today Trump demanded a counter-investigation into the legitimate, lawfully-predicated DOJ probe of his campaign, based on no evidence of wrongdoing, solely to undermine the special counsel — and he got it,” [wrote Matthew Miller]( a former Justice Department official. “The system is failing.” The full Opinion report from The Times follows. The Royal Wedding Editorial Observer [Thanks, Meghan Markle, We Needed That]( By MARA GAY Pride in the name of love. In Case You Missed It [Why Is the Royal Wedding at Windsor Castle?]( By ANNA WHITELOCK It is the British monarchy’s site for reinvention. There’s nowhere better to welcome Meghan Markle into the family. From Our Columnists Op-Ed Columnist [Enough Is Enough]( By CHARLES M. BLOW People seeking common sense on guns must become single-issue voters on gun control. Op-Ed Columnist [The Mississippi Man Tried Six Times for the Same Crime]( By DAVID LEONHARDT A Mississippi prosecutor seems to have a vendetta against Curtis Flowers, as a new podcast documents. On the Irish Abortion Referendum [Mourning Our Daughter, While Ireland Votes]( By AOIFE WALSH AND DAVIN O’DWYER Allowing Irish women to end pregnancies doesn’t require insisting on the inhumanity of those who haven’t been born yet. Op-Ed Columnist [The Irish Exception]( By ROSS DOUTHAT With its abortion referendum, is Ireland joining the future or the past? Op-Ed Columnist [Scarlet Letter in the Emerald Isle]( By MAUREEN DOWD Ireland has jumped into modernity in many ways. But can it move past its medieval abortion law and stop shaming women? [The Right Way to Fix the Prisons]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD What Congress could learn from Donald Trump’s moment of empathy on criminal justice. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Things Have Changed Since Sandy Hook]( By MIMI SWARTZ America has made progress on gun control — but much of it has been pushed from the grassroots, not our political leaders. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Monarchs in My Garden, at Last]( By MARGARET RENKL Planting specifically to attract pollinators — bees, skippers and butterflies — has finally paid off. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT From Sunday Review Op-Ed Columnist [The News Isn’t Fake. But It’s Flawed.]( By FRANK BRUNI Donald Trump’s attacks on us are shameless. Let’s not abet them. [John Kelly’s Ancestors Wouldn’t Have Fit In Either]( By VIET THANH NGUYEN Convenient amnesia about one’s origins is an all-American trait. [America’s 150-Year Opioid Epidemic]( By CLINTON LAWSON What can the country learn from the opium crisis of the 19th century? [The Myth of Conservative Feminism]( By JESSICA VALENTI The movement isn’t about blind support for women in power. [Pimping Out Miss Venezuela]( By TAL ABBADY How political corruption seeped into this last great symbol of national pride. [Don’t Put That in My Heart Until You’re Sure It Really Works]( By HAIDER WARRAICH We need more evidence before medical devices are approved, not less. The Stone [What’s So Good About Original Sin?]( By CRISPIN SARTWELL Perhaps it’s time for a new Puritanism. With fewer witch trials this time around, it could make the world a better place. [Venezuela’s Election: ‘Nobody Wants to Be a Pawn in a Game’]( We asked readers in Venezuela to describe living with low wages, runaway inflation and shortages as a presidential election approached. Here is what they said. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [leonhardt@nytimes.com](mailto:leonhardt@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Letters [The Hazards of Keyless Ignitions]( Readers suggest ways to prevent carbon monoxide deaths when drivers inadvertently leave their cars running. SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Find out about new [Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and learn more about upcoming events. 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