Sukkot Day 1 Sermon: Would You Rather Be a Supreme Court Justice or a RICO Defendant? Choosing Ice Cream vs. Choosing Life with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

I have two classmates from the Harvard Law School class of 1986 who are extraordinarily famous. World famous, but for different reasons.

One of them, Elana Kagan, is a Justice on the United States Supreme Court. She just made news recently because she has argued that the nine justices of the Supreme Court should be held accountable for their ethical practices, and that power without accountability is not a healthy combination in a democracy.

The other of them, Kenneth Chesebro, made news recently for being indicted as one of the 19 defendants in the Georgia RICO case for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Mr. Chesebro is presumed innocent. The prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. But if convicted, he faces jail time.

I have been thinking so much recently about their different trajectories: Supreme Court Justice. RICO defendant. And I have been wondering how did their paths diverge so dramatically?