and 15th amendments and all of the other post-civil war civil rights bills because they knew the democratic party of that era could not be a partner in safeguarding those national rights and that s what has broken down that manchin and sinema at this point are still giving a veto to republicans who are unlikely to step in against what their fellows in the party are doing in the states. it is really it is so sad. charles, the doj is suing texas alleging that the republican-led state violated the voting rights act by drawing districts that discriminated against minorities. do you think the doj needs to be more aggressive in challenging these attempts to disenfranchise voters? i think they do. i think they are doing a good job, and kristen clark doing the s civil rights division over there, the doj is doing a spectacular job in terms of that litigation and its agenda. i understand that since we have seen shelby versus holder break down basically the vra to nothing almost and section
that the empire actor plotted an attack on himself and paid the brothers to carry it out. joining me is charles f. coleman jr. they have a decision to make. do you put jesse smollett on the stand after a lot of physical evidence, after a lot of testimony that appears damning against him. normally the answer to this question would be unequivocal no. as a former prosecutor i was super excited any time that a defendant wanted to take the stand. why is that? because you re having a layperson step into an arena that s not theirs and be cross-examined by a prosecutor trained to pick apart every part of your story. that is better for the one asking the questions rather than answering them. his defense team has to be thinking about putting him on the stand. there has been a lot of damaging evidence that has come out, both physical and testimonial. you just mentioned the two
they knew this jury, and that s the strategy that you have to go. you have to know that jury and present your case to that jury, not to the public, not to the media, but to those 12 men and women that are sitting in judgment. i think they did a wonderful job in doing that. it did bring back a lot. i ll tell you, these are cases that are important for the country. they are important for people to see, and at the end of the day, charles is absolutely right, this was a great day for justice in america, but we ve got a long way to go. we celebrate tonight, but we got to roll up our sleeves tomorrow, and it s not just a criminal justice system, it s really across the united states because the criminal justice system is made up of people, and until we make sure that people are the ones that are fair and use their judgment to do right, to do justice, like this jury did, that s when we will reach the pinnacle of justice in america. and we ve got a long way to go, but this is a big step for sur
would be something that that juror could hang their hat on. i thought it was just a horrible tactic, stooping very low, and i think it was if they truly were floored at this verdict, then they were more than miscalculating. there was almost malpractice in the way they handled the case if they were that floored about a verdict in this case with the way the everyday came out and the testimony and the pieces of the puzzle that that prosecutor put together. charles, i don t want to leave you out here, i want you to listen and respond to what we heard from robert reuben today. he is the defense attorney, by the way, for travis mcmichael. he had this to say. i don t think any single case is a referendum on the criminal justice system in america. this case was about these people at this moment in time. we had good prosecutors, good defense lawyers, and a good judge all working hard to make sure justice occurred in this courtroom, and whether the verdict had been the way it went or had b
the strategy that you have to go. you have to know that jury and present your case to that jury, not to the public, not to the media, but to those 12 men and women that are sitting in judgment. i think they did a wonderful job in doing that. it did bring back a lot. i ll tell you, these are cases that are important for the country. they are important for people to see, and at the end of the day, charles is absolutely right, this was a great day for justice in america, but we ve got a long way to go. we celebrate tonight, but we got to roll up our sleeves tomorrow, and it s not just a criminal justice system, it s really across the united states because the criminal justice system is made up of people, and until we make sure that people are the ones that are fair and use their judgment to do right, to do justice, like this jury did, that s when we will reach the pinnacle of justice in america. and we ve got a long way to go, but this is a big step for sure. due process, plus a fair tr