For most of the years since it was published in 1960, Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” has been voted America’s favorite novel, and its main character, Atticus Finch, has been the perennial leader in America’s “greatest film hero” lists.

The novel’s climax occurs when the 1930s all-white jury from Alabama convicts Atticus’ innocent client, Tom Robinson, a Negro (as African Americans were then called), against all justifiable reason but in accordance with their prejudiced views.

Most telling was the utter pretense of the trial’s fairness, regardless of the efforts of some courageous individuals. The outcome was predetermined by the jurors’ petty-minded loyalty to an identity group.

Despite Lee’s damning portrayal of a miscarriage of justice, the continued popularity of the novel and its hero leads me to think that we Americans recognize good literature, the need for justice and the value of people with integrity.

I can’t help but think of this when I anticipate the impending impeachment trial of President Trump in the U.S. Senate. Of course, here we have a reversal of sorts, but still a jury looking very much like the one Atticus and Tom faced nearly 100 years ago.

The difference, apart from a few gender and race additions, is that now most of the “jury” has pledged beforehand to find the defendant not guilty. Again, evidence be damned. And again, we have a travesty of what our Founders had considered among the crown jewels of their constitutional achievements – a fair and impartial trial by a jury of one’s peers.

Robert Petrillo

Westbrook

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