Keller: How Karen Read's trial highlights Americans' distrust of the court system
Whatever the verdict is in the Karen Read re-trial, it is likely to be divisive, in part because public confidence in the courts is collapsing.
Americans' trust in the courts drops
"I trust in the jury pool," said Karen Read during jury selection for her re-trial.
But that makes her part of a dwindling subset of Americans.
A Gallup poll late last year found confidence in the courts has collapsed from a healthy 59% in 2017 to an abysmal 35%, the 10th largest drop in the world during that time frame. Countries with comparably low levels of confidence include the war-ravaged Congo, Chinese-governed Hong Kong, and Syria.
As our political culture has slipped into an acute state of division, suspicion, and anger, one local expert sees it taking a toll on the courts as well. "The abortion decision, some of Trump's troubles with the courts, all of that contributed to people having less trust in the court system," said Boston College Law Professor Robert Bloom.
That Gallup poll found people even trust the honesty of elections more than the judicial process.
Karen Read verdict could be divisive
And if the circus atmosphere of the Read case draws on skepticism of police ethics, cameras in the courtroom, and the role of high-profile trials as cultural, social and/or political litmus tests, you could call it a rerun of events 30 years ago in an Los Angeles courtroom, where O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the slaughter of his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
Many Americans will never accept that outcome, but Bloom said there's no reason for the Read verdict to be as divisive. "The level of lawyering has been really very good, and I think the judge has been good, and I think she's gotten a fair trial," he said. "With the collective wisdom of the jury, I would tend to rely on it."
While the Simpson trial had wall-to-wall TV coverage, you didn't have social media types inflaming emotions, spreading speculation, and even allegedly intimidating witnesses. It will be interesting to hear from jurors what, if any, impact all that and the crowds outside the courtroom had on them.
And with the courts increasingly cast as the last line of checks and balances on the White House, don't look for this politically charged environment to change anytime soon.
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