Given the efforts by the former president to disrupt the proceedings of his trial on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, I am reminded of the trial of the Chicago Eight in 1969.
The defendants were accused of inciting a riot during the Chicago Democratic Convention of 1968. Seven were white; one, Bobby Seale, was Black. Shortly after the trial began, Seale loudly protested by attempting to examine his own witnesses. Judge Hoffman took the unusual measure of having Seale bound and gagged at the defendant’s table before eventually separating his trial and sentencing him to 48 months in prison.
Now we have a wealthy white man, also accused breaking the law (and of inciting a riot on different charges), attempting to intimidate witnesses verbally in court and in the press. He is clearly in contempt of court. Will he be bound and gagged if he continues?
Richard Kaye-Schiess
Shapleigh
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.