Indicted. Convicted. In Charge. How Did the World End Up in the Hands of Men Courts Have Already Judged?

Three of the most powerful leaders shaping this week’s headlines have one thing in common, and it’s not what you’d expect.

This week, and especially this weekend, hit differently.

A new war with Iran. Ongoing war in Ukraine. Decisions being made that affect millions of lives, millions of families, millions of futures.

And I kept coming back to one thought I couldn’t shake.

The leaders driving these moments are Benjamin Netanyahu, charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza war, including using starvation as a method of warfare. Vladimir Putin, indicted by the ICC for war crimes related to the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied territories of Ukraine. And Donald Trump convicted in New York on 34 felonies and in separate civil proceedings was found liable by a jury for sexual abuse and defamation, with the appellate court concluding his conduct met the common definition of rape.

These are not allegations floating in the background. These are formal legal findings and charges from courts and international tribunals after the presentation of detailed facts and evidence.

If any one of these men lived next door to me, I wouldn’t invite them over for a backyard barbecue. I certainly wouldn’t hand them my house keys and ask them to watch my dog while I was out of town for the weekend.

And yet here we are. Watching these same individuals make decisions that determine whether people live or die. Whether nations go to war. Whether families are torn apart or held together.¹

After decades of practicing law, I have learned something that most people don’t want to hear.

Accountability is not automatic. It is not inevitable. And it does not scale the way we assume it does.

In a courtroom, consequences follow findings. In the wider world, power often outruns accountability entirely. The same legal systems that hold everyday people to account can struggle to reach the people whose decisions cause the greatest harm.

That gap, between what the law finds and what actually changes, is one of the most important things I think about in this work.

This week reminded me why it matters.

Because law alone was never meant to carry the full weight of justice. People have to care. Communities have to pay attention. And we have to stop normalizing what should never feel normal.

What this week reminded me about is that no one should have unchecked power. No one.

Especially not indicted war criminals and convicted sexual abusers and felons.

That is why separation of powers exists. That is why oversight exists. Not because leaders are expected to fail, but because history has shown us, over and over, what happens when they do and no one is in a position to stop them.

The global system of humanity was never designed to trust any single person with this much authority. This week was a reminder of why.

Mitch Jackson, Esq.

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1. The Iranian regime is corrupt. It is repressive. And it should never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. The world knows that. The American people know that.

But wanting a safer world does not give any president the right to drag this country into an unlawful and reckless war without Congressional approval. You do not protect American lives by gambling with them. You do not defend democracy by bypassing it. And you do not send service members into harm’s way without clearly explaining to the American people why their sons and daughters must carry that burden.

Leadership means discipline. It means restraint. It means standing in front of the American people and making the case with facts, not fear.

When a president escalates military conflict while his support at home is collapsing, Americans have every right to question the timing and the motive. Our troops are not a distraction tool. They are not a political shield. They are human beings with families who expect that force will be used only when it is lawful, necessary, and fully justified.

If we are going to risk American lives, it must be for reasons that withstand scrutiny in daylight. Anything less puts this country, and the people who serve it, in danger.