In the wake of newly-inaugurated President Trump’s unprecedented mass pardon of January 6 Insurrectionists, the classic saying “two wrongs don’t make a right” comes to mind. In this ever-ongoing story, there were a lot of wrongs. But in this case, what were the two major wrongs that called for the exercise of Constitutional rights?

First was the fact that former Narrowsburg resident Edward Jacob Lang, who was arrested shortly after the January 6 invasion of the Capitol and charged with 13 counts, never received a fair and speedy trial, as is guaranteed by the law of the land. 

Rather than sitting in a Federal prison for four years, Lang should have seen the inside of the courtroom. A shining failure of the system put in place to oversee justice.

In fact, Lang became the longest jailed January 6 defendant never to receive a trial. 

The second error that exhibits a lack of respect for justice was done by President Trump, whose immediate pardon of all January 6 defendants upon reentering the Oval Office showcased a heavy injustice against the members of law enforcement who were on the frontline of democracy on that fateful day via a mass pardon, no questions asked. While a handful of those involved with the insurrection on January 6 were likely only bystanders merged to become one with the crowd, the reports made it clear that Lang was charged with allegedly attacking a police officer with a baseball bat – a violent act, among others. These charges absolutely deserved to be contemplated by a jury of peers in a timely fashion. 

And while 1,500 seditionists won a great battle, the rightful justice for the over 346 million Americans who live and abide by the Constitution, which guarantees a peaceful transition of power, was ripped away by the single stroke of a pen.

Justice is not a one-size-fits-all, which saw the lumping together of over 1,500 January 6 Capitol rioters. Despite their allegiance any one way or another, the systems put in place by the United States Constitution demand a little more eye to detail than that, Mr. President. 

This was a massive misstep, and we hope that this show of disrespect to the Capitol Hill law enforcement who stood in line to protect our Constitution and lawmakers, as well as all members of law enforcement who put their life on the line, each and every day, to uphold those ideals in their own neighborhoods, is never repeated.