Dear Reader,

There is a tradition in the SDNY, and I imagine in other prosecutors’ offices too, which is this: supervisors try to find an opportunity to give positive feedback to Assistant U.S. Attorneys trying a case, but before the verdict is known: “You worked hard, tried an excellent case, whatever happens, you should know I’m proud of you.” The point is to praise the effort, if deserved, rather than the outcome. Justice is less about results than about a fair and fair-minded process. Positive outcomes sometimes overstate the quality of the effort, and adverse outcomes can wrongly obscure it.

In my book, Doing Justice, I compare the uncertainty of jury verdicts to the uncertainty of election outcomes, based on a 2016 quote from chess Grandmaster (and this week’s Stay Tuned guest) Garry Kasparov. As Kasparov noted on the eve of the election that year, “That nervous feeling you have about tomorrow, Americans? That’s democracy working. Unpredictable elections, what a luxury!”

The same is true as a jury verdict looms, as I wrote: “That nervous feeling you have when the jury comes out, prosecutors? That is justice working. Unpredictable verdicts, what a luxury.”