It’s clear that Donald Trump thinks he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. There are currently fifteen appeals pending in courts around the country challenging how he wants to bend the government, and therefore, all of us to his will. Trump has made clear he craves power and revenge. He has surrounded himself with yes men and women whose first objective in loyalty to Trump. He has reduced the Republican Party to a personality club terrified of crossing him. His latest battle with the courts is his blatant refusal to comply with US District Judge James Boasberg’s order to stop the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members he has deported to El Salvador without due process. A three judge court of appeals is hearing the government’s argument defending what it has done.
Judge Boasberg has said, “The public has a significant stake in the Government’s compliance with the law.” The Trump administration says it’s acting under a centuries old law that says it can deport non-citizens without a hearing because it says the gang members were part of an invading force. This process will be repeated over and over as these cases make their way though the judicial system. Our Constitution says we have three equal branches of government, the Executive, which enforces laws, the Legislative, which makes laws and controls government spending, and the Judicial which interprets the laws and determines if they are constitutional.
I would argue the Judicial is the first among equals. Federal judges and Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. So those two branches get a say in the people who are going to sit on these courts. But that’s when those who sit on the courts have to have an open mind and follow the law. Some of these Trump challenges could likely end at the Supreme Court. Trump has put three conservative justices on the court which is now dominated by conservatives. But as Chief Justice John Roberts has said, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges, or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.” Let’s hope the rest of the justices share this view.
Trump has an attacked judges who don’t agree with him and called for their impeachment. Roberts as also said, “Impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” This is why we have an appellate review process. Most people can’t even name the nine justices of the court. But they make the decisions that affect all of us in a very personal way. Brown vs. Board of Education outlawed school segregation. Roe vs. Wade said abortion was protected by the Constitution. And years later, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruled abortion is not protected by the Constitution and could be regulated by the states.
We are in dangerous, uncharted times. The majority put us here by electing someone who poses a threat to the core of what our system and government have stood for since that hot Philadelphia summer in 1787 when we created the American idea that we hope will endure.
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