I fell in love with the U.S. Constitution in my 8th grade American History class. One of the admirable things I found there, alongside freedom of speech and religion, was the idea of a jury of our peers.

In America if we are charged by our government with a crime, our guilt or innocence is not determined by politicians, pundits or even a judge. It is determined by regular citizens just like us, selected from among our neighbors.

Two high profile trials have just shown us a good deal about how the two candidates for president this November look at how justice should operate.

In New York last month, it was a jury of twelve regular citizens that unanimously convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of criminal fraud. Throughout the trial and after, Mr. Trump and his loyalists dumped venom on the justice system, screaming that it was rigged.

The jury, however, dealt in facts. Over the course of five weeks, those twelve citizens listened to every piece of testimony and examined every piece of evidence. They developed their impressions of the witnesses from just a few feet away, listening to each for hours. They paid close attention as lawyers for both sides made their best arguments. And they found the former President guilty of criminal fraud aimed at influencing the results of the 2016 election.

This week in Delaware, in a different trial, President Biden’s son Hunter was also convicted by a jury of his peers, in this case on three felony counts of lying about his drug addiction on a federal gun permit application.

The reactions to the two jury verdicts could hardly have been more different.

Trump and his loyalists attacked the justice system as corrupt and everyone involved in the trial, making it clear that anyone who spoke otherwise would come under attack as well.

In advance of the verdict, the respected former Republican Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan (currently his party’s candidate for U.S. Senate) appealed to patriotism and reason. “Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process.” Trump’s operatives replied back, “You just ended your campaign.” Patriotism, reason and respect for the rule of law have no place in the politics of Trump 2024. What matters is blind loyalty.

After the announcement of his son’s conviction, President Biden and his supporters launched no attack on the nation’s justice system. They made no declaration that the trial was rigged. The President and First Lady spoke only of their love for their son. “Nothing will ever change that.”

The other key difference in these two trials, of course, is that only one of these convicted felons is a candidate for president, seeking the highest office in the land.

So what should we make of all this? Does it really matter if we install a convicted felon in the White House next year?

There are some interesting practical effects worth noting. As a convicted felon, Mr. Trump is now prohibited from setting foot in 37 nations that forbid felons like him from entering. This includes Canada, Israel, the UK, India, and China.

But it is not Mr. Trump’s restricted foreign travel that should concern us most. It is having a president who so clearly believes that the law does not apply to him in the way it does others.

Mr. Trump is like the man who speeds around town in a car running red lights and declaring to those who object that those rules are only for lesser men, not him. That attitude in a driver behind a wheel is a serious danger. That attitude in a man who holds the powers of the presidency is a danger of a wholly other kind.

To be clear, what we do not need in America is a judicial system used by those in power to prosecute their political rivals. In the two decades I lived in South America I witnessed this close-up. After every election politicians took turns trying to put each other in jail. But as twelve jurors in New York made clear, what we saw in the prosecution of Mr. Trump is not the weaponization of justice. It is actual justice, no matter how powerful the man.

What we do need in our country is respect for the law, no matter who it touches. President Biden understands that, even in the heartbreaking event of his son standing trial and convicted. Donald Trump and the current Republican Party have made it clear that they believe the law takes a back seat to blind loyalty.

My adolescent love of the U.S. Constitution planted seeds that eventually led me to a lifetime of work supporting citizen democracy all over the world. I know how fragile it can be and I can see how fragile it is right now in America.

A former president and current candidate was convicted by a jury of his peers of 34 felonies. There is no spinning that.

Jim Shultz is the founder and executive director of the Democracy Center. Reach him at jimshultzthewriter@gmail.com.