What Tom Cotton got wrong about Nuremberg and Ketanji Brown Jackson

But before trials could even start, the international delegation had to agree on a framework. There was not yet an International Criminal Court, and the crimes had taken place in many different countries. All that summer of 1945, Jackson worked in London with his British, French and Soviet counterparts on what became known as the London Charter, establishing the rules of the International Military Tribunal. He signed it on behalf of the United States on Aug. 8, 1945.

“The constitution of the Nuremberg trials was a constitution [Jackson] wrote,” Barrett told The Washington Post. “He believed in it seriously.”

Section Four, Article 16 concerned safeguards for a fair trial, including that a “Defendant shall have the right to conduct his own defense before the Tribunal or to have the assistance of Counsel.”

Not only were defense attorneys guaranteed, “they were on the U.S. payroll,” Barrett said. Most of the defense attorneys were German professionals, and “the U.S. gave them housing and mess privileges. Germany was in rubble, so it was a good deal to be one of those defense attorneys.”