The recent decision by a New York jury to convict Donald Trump of 34 felony counts opens new vistas for American politics. For one thing, the convictions reshape the 2024 presidential race by offering moderates a clear signal of the Trump campaign’s venality. For another, the New York prosecution may help trigger a new season of indicting political opponents.  

In the hours and days after the conviction, many Republicans picked up Trump’s unfounded, even slanderous, accusations against the prosecutor, the trial judge and his family. The inevitable next step, heard before and after the verdict, involved calls for the weaponization of criminal law through “revenge prosecutions” against Democrats. Among those making such calls are scholars from prestigious law schools, lending them more weight and authority among the public. 

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