Claim that Trump appeal will be heard by Black female judges is misleading
No weight behind claims that Donald Trump’s prospective appeal would be heard by specific judges
CLAIM
Posts on social media claim a photo depicts the judges on the Manhattan Appeals Court where former President Donald Trump will appeal his conviction.
BACKGROUND
On Thursday, May 30, former U.S. President Donald Trump became the first president — past or present — to be convicted of a felony.
The Republican candidate for the presidency was found guilty in a Manhattan court on all 34 counts in a trial that accused him of falsifying business records to pay hush money to the porn star Stormy Daniels in an act designed to conceal a sexual affair from voters in the 2016 election.
His sentence will not be known until July 11, giving Trump time to appeal the conviction. The judge in the case ordered the parties to file motions by June 13. In the meantime, Trump is still campaigning for his presidential bid.
Donald Trump and his supporters have claimed the entire case was politically motivated and designed to frustrate his bid to run for office to secure another term in the White House. They further claimed that he could not get a fair outcome from a jury in New York City, a predominantly Democratic stronghold.
After the conviction was handed down, posts began to appear online looking to his appeal process. One post on X contained an image described as showing the judges of the Manhattan Appeals Court — all of whom are women of colour.
The post was captioned: “Do you think Trump has a chance with the Manhattan appeals court?” It was shared by Elijah Schaffer, a journalist at The Gateway Pundit, a far-right news website which has been known to share hoaxes and conspiracy theories. The post was viewed over 1.8 million times.
The post seems to allude that Donald Trump will be looked upon unfavourably by an all-female, all-Black bench of judges.
Another post by Nazir Afzal, a former British chief prosecutor, featured the same image and a caption reading: “Trumps conviction is a NY State Case so can only be appealed within NEW YORK STATE – NOT to the Supreme Court Let me introduce you to the Manhattan Appeals Court Good Luck”.
Afzal went on to say in a second post: “I have every confidence that, unlike the Trump loaded Supreme Court, the Manhattan Appeals Court will not be swayed by the Trump Cult or those Republicans who have attacked the jury’s decision as a “hit job” Good judges don’t listen to the mob They listen to the evidence.”
METHOD
A reverse image search on the photo reveals that it was taken in February 2024 on a landmark occasion — when the Manhattan Appeals Court for the first time sat an all-African American panel for oral arguments.
The judges’ names are in the image, allowing us to cross-check them against a full list of the court justices. A search of the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York brought up the Justices of the Court.
There are 21 in total, including the women featured in the image. The list is diverse, with both women and men currently serving in the court, as well as a mix of ethnic backgrounds.
The judges for the Trump appeal could feature any of these 21 judges as part of a panel that would be chosen at random, according to the court, meaning that it cannot be confirmed who would be on the bench for the appeal.
From this analysis, we can conclude that there is no panel set for the as-yet unconfirmed Trump appeal, and there is no reason to believe that any specific combination of the 21 justices would be hearing the case.
RATING
The posts are misleading as there is no weight behind claims that Donald Trump’s prospective appeal would be heard by the specific five judges in the photo.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: Do you think Trump has a chance with the Manhattan appeals court? [Accessed 5 Jun. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: Trumps conviction is a NY State Case… [Accessed 5 Jun. 2024].
Denney, A. (2024). Manhattan Appeals Court Seats First All-African American Panel for Oral Arguments | New York Law Journal. [online] [Accessed 5 Jun. 2024].
Supreme Court of the State of New York (2023). Appellate Division – First Judicial Department. [online] Nycourts.gov. [Accessed 5 Jun. 2024].