Opinion | Now that Trump’s been convicted, what sentence does he deserve? (2024)

1. Mr. Trump would be required to take a course in U.S. history, the Constitution and civics over a period of time commensurate with recommended sentencing guidelines.

2. After completion of the course, Mr. Trump would be required to take the naturalization test given to all immigrants who seek American citizenship.

3. If Mr. Trump failed to pass this exam, he would be required to continue his coursework until he passeed the test.

4. While Mr. Trump is fulfilled the above requirements, he should also be assigned community service at least once a week until he earned a passing grade. This should be a low-profile service such as office work for a nonpartisan charity or offering his voice to solicit contributions for food banks. He could work the phones and create ads for social media.

Dan Rita, Mount Holly, N.J.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has significant discretion in sentencing white-collar felons. Criminal sentencing guidelines include taking account of what type of restitution would fit the crime, as well as expressions of remorse or contrition.

The crimes of which Donald Trump has been convicted involved the suppression of information for political gain and might have affected the outcome of the 2016 election. It would thus seem that appropriate restitution would include the requirement that Mr. Trump immediately prepare a written statement that explicitly and completely disavows his previous denial of the 2020 election results, acknowledges that he lost the 2020 election and recognizes Joe Biden as the legitimate president. Restitution could also include six months of community service, perhaps with a nonpartisan nonprofit such as the League of Women Voters. These options could be offered in lieu of jail time.

Regarding expressions of remorse, I am not holding my breath. I trust that Justice Merchan will consider Trump’s behavior and words at the sentencing hearing.

Keith Kozloff, Takoma Park

In the July 11 sentencing of Donald Trump, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan needs to show proper respect. He can do this by confining Mr. Trump to a one-room “house arrest” filled with his usual luxuries including perhaps his gold toilet. However, the room needs to be devoid of televisions, computers, cellphones, letter paper, writing instruments, envelopes and stamps or any other means of communication. The Secret Service agents can protect the locked door to ensure no unauthorized personnel enter or leave.

The judge should recognize that Mr. Trump will need some sort of mental stimulation in view of this ban on communicating with the outside world. Justice Merchan could follow the lead set by the Louisiana legislature, which just voted to mandate the display of a poster-size version of the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms from kindergarten through college. This poster could be mounted on one wall where Mr. Trump could meditate daily on how it relates to him, perhaps with the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” highlighted in red.

On the opposite wall could be a similar poster with a list of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.

Kenneth Janowski, Florence, Ore.

For a very long time, like millions of Americans, I have wished for Donald Trump to just disappear from politics, the media and public conversation. No criminal statute exists which can make the country whole from the harm Mr. Trump has caused. Among other things, Mr. Trump has made a shambles of the Republican Party. He has constantly insulted people, called them names and told innumerable lies; he has wasted the country’s time and resources on impeachments and trials; and, most important, he has attempted to destroy democracy by denying he lost a free and fair election. The essence of democracy is acceptance of the people’s will after they have voted.

Mr. Trump could possibly have avoided the New York verdict and trials in D.C., Florida and Georgia had he opted not to run for office and chosen instead to live as a private citizen. His ego and hunger for power prevented him from choosing this path. So, he refused to do as President Richard M. Nixon did and leave politics.

As an attorney, I understand it is unlikely that Mr. Trump will be sentenced to jail. However, given the unprecedented harm Mr. Trump has done to this country, merely fining a man who will raise the money from the public is not sufficient. Accordingly, I hope New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will consider sentencing Mr. Trump to a minimum of six months home detention (with an exception for the two debates between Mr. Trump and President Biden) to start immediately after sentencing.

That type of penalty would truly send a message to Mr. Trump that he will endure more than the stigma of wearing a scarlet letter of “convicted felon” around his neck. Rather, it would temporarily restrict Mr. Trump’s freedom to travel and speak at public campaign events. That is what I see as fair and adequate to prevent Mr. Trump from engaging in actions in the future similar to those of which he has been convicted.

Bruce N. Shulman, Silver Spring

If jail time is an inappropriate punishment for Donald Trump. How about a four-year prohibition on playing golf?

Frank N. Wilner, Fredericksburg

Most legal specialists consulted on the subject seem to believe that Donald Trump’s sentence for falsifying business records will be light, considering various mitigating factors and that it would be a surprise were he actually to be incarcerated.

But why do these luminaries of the law not take into consideration that Mr. Trump shows no remorse, and worse, that he does not even recognize his guilt, insisting the trial was downright rigged? This is why New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan must send Mr. Trump to languish in prison so he has time to examine his conscience — however impossible that introspection might seem.

Can you imagine such a criminal in the White House? If this happens, this presidential election will be a shameful milestone for the United States. A criminal who does not believe in democracy should not become president of the most powerful democracy in the world.

Sylvio Le Blanc, Montreal

The Post’s May 31 editorial, “The jury has spoken. Next up, the voters.” was correct on every point, though it didn’t go far enough in suggesting what ought to be done with the former president.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) could help cut short Mr. Trump’s continued efforts to use “the legal cases against him to make a political case in his favor” by pardoning the former president. Since the 34 felony counts are state and not federal violations, only New York’s governor, and not a current or future president, can do so. If Ms. Hochul pardons Mr. Trump, we will all be spared the inevitable trial replays that will come with a likely appeal of the case. The convictions won’t legally disqualify Trump as president, and the jury’s decision to find Mr. Trump guilty has made the point and made history, so there’d be nothing to lose. Mr. Trump isn’t likely to be sentenced to jail in any case. And from the perspective of New York politics, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg got to fulfill his campaign pledge by securing the initial conviction.

A pardon would also likely infuriate Mr. Trump. Coming from a Democrat, it would take away one of his biggest campaign arguments that the system is rigged against him and remove what has been a major source of media attention and a boon for his fundraising. Plus, it’s the right thing to do at the right time. The pardon would be an infusion of decency into a political system and presidential campaign which has been consumed by vitriol and nastiness.

Joseph P. Petito, Bethesda

I am 83 and a convicted felon who received a full and unconditional pardon from President Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts made me reflect on my own experiences and what Mr. Trump might learn from my example.

In 1967, I and three other men poured blood on draft records at a Selective Service office in Baltimore in protest of the war in Vietnam. At the time of my sentencing in 1968, I pronounced that I would continue to follow a higher moral law and protest. In response, Judge Edward S. Northrop intoned, “In that case, I am sentencing you to an institution of the attorney general’s choice.”

I naively wondered what he meant. It meant 21 months at Lewisburg Federal Prison and, later, a career in the criminal injustice system helping inmates at the Baltimore City Jail. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke said, “You must change your life.” Prison did.

David Eberhardt, Baltimore