As the Trump administration careens drunkenly from outrage to outrage, laying waste to the American Idea, there is one “through line” to the Dear Leader’s petulant and bizarre Executive Orders and (ungrammatical) pronouncements: virtually all of them violate the laws of the land. (My husband will read of some Trumpian action and ask me, “Can he do that?” and my response is usually, “It’s against the law, if that matters.”)
The Constitutional crisis we are currently experiencing is Trump’s disregard–not just for the laws he is ignoring–but for Court orders requiring him to obey them.
I don’t know how this crisis will turn out. I have hopes that the increasing numbers of protests will encourage at least some Republican Senators and Representatives to re-grow their spines (although here in Indiana, Senator Jim Banks–a dim, smug self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist–is beyond hope). In the meantime, there are emerging signs that the legal community is prepared to defend the rule of law against our Mad King and his merry band of lunatics.
I was particularly pleased to read a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision authored by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, because it confirmed a point I’ve repeatedly made on this site: whatever descriptors you want to apply to Trumpism and MAGA, “conservative” isn’t one of them.
As Josh Marshall wrote at Talking Points Memo
If you had told me in 2005 that 20 years hence federal appeals court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III would be writing a paean to our lost liberties and freedoms under a Republican president, I may have politely suggested you seek some help.
The entire order is worth reading. Wilkinson clings to the hope that the judiciary’s “brethren in the Executive Branch” will recognize that the rule of law is “vital to the American ethos.”
Wilkinson’s defense of the rule of law is being joined by individual lawyers. R. William Jonas, Jr., a partner in a law firm in Mishawaka, Indiana, recently shared the following letter he’d written to the Indiana Bar Association.
I write today as a member and Past President of the Indiana State Bar Association, and as an officer of the court who swore on Oct. 9, 1981, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Indiana. To fulfill my oath, I write today in the wake of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit attached here.
The U.S. government “snatched” Kilmar Abrego Garcia from his home state of Maryland, and, in utter disregard of his constitutional right to due process and a specific court order, and transported him to an infamous prison in El Salvador where it is now claimed that he is beyond the power of our courts. We know from reading the Fifth Amendment that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” And “no person” means exactly that – it includes everyone from Jesus Christ and the twelve disciples to Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy or Gertrude Baniszewski.
It is the duty of the Indiana State Bar Association, to speak in support of the opinion of the court and the right of due process which is at the very heart of the rule of law. Some might say that we should be silent because we shouldn’t be taking political positions or because it might cause people to terminate their memberships. To these folks, I say that we all have sworn to uphold the constitution and the rule of law. This association is rightly proud of its efforts to promote leadership through the Leadership Development Academy and civic education through the Indiana Bar Foundation’s civic education program “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution.” If we remain silent, what message do we send about leadership? About civic duty? If not us, who? If not now, when?
Judge Wilkinson wrote
It is, as we have noted, all too possible to see in this case an incipient crisis, but itmay present an opportunity as well. We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believeour good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.
Now is the opportunity for the ISBA to speak up in support of the right to due process and the rule of law, and to urge the local bars of Indianapolis, Evansville, Allen County, Lake County and St. Joseph County to take similar action. It is an opportunity to urge the faculties of Indiana’s law schools to join the chorus – as Judge Wilkinson says “while there is still time.”
Now is the time for all of us to speak up–and resist.
Local news reported this morning that one Indiana county found a way to lower their crime rate; they dropped MURDER charges against a suspect because they do not have enough prosecutors to handle the case. Let the games begin!
It remains primarily…Follow the money!…so where is their money going that they cannot prosecute criminals? Republicans do not understand democracy or Rule of Law which explains their standing strong against being “woke” or practicing “DEI” when hiring or maintaining their employees.
If you remember, I said Trump would bring about a unifying force among the citizenry, but I sure didn’t think it would happen within his first six months. We’re already witnessing higher education rising, but unfortunately, it depends on whether they reside in a red or blue state. There should NOT be a political line for the academy, which is built upon freedom of speech. If higher ed can’t speak up, then they’ve sold out! Same thing for the legal profession – case in point – Todd Rokita and Paul Weiss.
And speaking of selling out, I wonder how many phone calls Dear Leader got from Big Banks after he threatened to fire Jerome Powell? “It was just a joke!” LOL
Several articles from different sources raise red flags about the usually benign Department of the Interior and our federal lands. This relates to my comment about Big Banks as well. The authors have both suggested that trillions of dollars are just dormant inside the parameters of federally owned lands. The theory is that Big Banks want Dear Leader to begin selling the properties with their mineral rights to oligarchs so we can repay our $37 trillion deficit. It is suggested that hundreds of trillions of mineral and oil deposits are located on federal lands, including those belonging to Native Americans.
Here is a word I want to hear from the Democratic Party: “expropriation.” The party and the people must develop a list of public goods that should remain in the public realm forever. Everything sold off under Dear Leader’s rule must be expropriated, including public health and the internet. Why in the world was the internet ever privatized? The same goes for our public health care.
I’m sure everyone can conjure up a list of commodities we’ve privatized for decades via liberalism and neoliberalism, which have primarily benefitted the oligarchy, not we the people.
This is what I mean about selling out; can the Democratic Party represent the people, or are they 100% captured by the oligarchy? Xfinity/Comcast has been one of the top contributors to the Democratic Party. #sellouts
Democracy is messy, we all know that. It can be described that way because when all of the people’s voices count, governance is full of contradictions, anything but easy or perfect, by any means. Having said that, describing the current administration as messy doesn’t even come close. When the rule of law is flaunted, dismissed or simply ignored, we are doomed. That is exactly what is happening right now, and the courts MUST hold fast. Not some of the judiciary but ALL of the judiciary, conservative-, liberal- and moderate-leaning alike. Ignoring a court’s order is simply not acceptable; the crack in the wall of justice immediately widens as a result. I don’t agree with every court decision of course, but I know that the decisions – whether I like them or not – were arrived at through an explicit process that we refer to as the rule of law. It is one of the most, if not THE most important pillars of our democracy. Important enough that if lost, so goes the The Great Experiment.
We now have a disfunctional Department of Justice. The good lawyers are standing and refusing to engage in patently unconstitutional actions. When they do that, they resign. What’s left behind are either looking to gain power and money or they are at best, average. They are sent to court with no information about what questions the judge might have or what actions the executive branch has taken to follow the judge’s prior orders.
The next line of defense is in the Department of Defense. If the armed forces cave, we are finished. We will have to form an underground movement. We may soon see if they paid attention to the words they spoke when they took the oath. I’ve taken it at least eight times over the years and never thought I would ever have to defend the Constitution. If I had to take it tomorrow, that would not be the case.
Last year, we were among the safest and most comfortable people to roam the Earth—all of us were. Why was that? Our entire process of making, executing, and applying our laws to everyone within our borders.
What are Magamob’s goals now that they are in charge? I honestly don’t know. So far, they are making the lives of some of us less safe and comfortable, and that number grows every day, seemingly when Trump grabs that day’s headlines.
When their assault on We the People ends, who will be as safe and comfortable as we all were last year?
Perhaps only those whom Trump can count on for income.
Pete, come on man!
The safest? The most comfortable? Respectfully, put down the pipe my brother! Take a look concerning the tale of the tape. This so-called democracy was, and or is, not close to the safest in anything.
Infant mortality? No! Murders? No! Rapes? No! Education? No! Health care? No! Quality of life? No! Social justice? No! Infrastructure? No! Redress grievances? No! Representation under the law? No! With all of these law firms bending the knee and kissing the ring, it’ll even be worse.
This is not a democracy. It never was a democracy, it never will be a democracy. China probably is more of a democracy than the United States. Well maybe not! But the UK would be, Australia would be, Canada would be, most of the European Union would be! Even Japan!
When your vote does not count because of the electoral College, then, you don’t have one man one vote towards anything. Someone else is deciding that for you. No matter what they tell you, that is not Democratic. And if it’s not Democratic, how can you have a democracy? When you continue to allow freedom of speech from those who still support slavery, still support bigotry, still support Sharia law, whether it be Christian (metaphoric) or Muslim (literal), you don’t have democracy. You have butchers who running the courts, or military tribunals which would be more accurate down the line here.
The hand has been writing on the wall for a long time, but everybody was too busy trying to acquire their little sliver of perceived paradise. From the native Americans who were being pushed off of their land, when their way of living was butchered by white hunters from moving trains, when they were given blankets infected with smallpox and other diseases, yep, that’s Democratic! Slavery, yep that’s Democratic, imprisoning the Japanese during world war II in concentration camps here, yep that’s Democratic, shipping people off to El Salvador probably never to be heard from again, yep that’s Democratic! What has been, what is, and what will be, will prove that this country is not a panacea for anyone but the very white and wealthy. The sooner folks realize that, they can pull their heads out of the sand and take a breath of reality!
Preach, Brother John!
In the last year alone, 19 US families gained $2.3 trillion in wealth, and they did nothing to earn it. It’s a result of the economic system in place. Period.
If you follow the Solari Report, which I highly recommend, she’s predicting we are heading toward slavery once again in this country. Again, why hasn’t DOGE gone into the FED? 😉
Thanks, John Sorg, for an accurate summary of the situation. To even approach pure democracy we have to eliminate the EC, and overturn Citizens United. Then, on the second day of actual government, make all elections government funded – no private money at all. The third day would install an expansion of Medicare for EVERYONE, thus eliminating health care insurance. Imagine what all those empty lobbyists offices would look like. Maybe they could be used to house the indigent. On the fourth day, eliminate tax shelters for the wealthy and corporations and raise the top tax rates to 50% – as it was in the 50s when the nation prospered via middle class expansion. On the fifth day, expand the department of education and raise the minimum wage for teachers to $50,000 everywhere. On the sixth day, provide the tax incentives necessary to build technology industries infrastructure HERE; no more running to China/Taiwan/Mexico, et. al., to pay labor ten cents on the dollar. People will have more money to spend HERE, so …
On the seventh day, we rest our case.
What Vernon said!
@ Vernon Turner … AMEN! American ethos restored.
I’m with Vernon!
Vernon, I bow to your eloquence. What you said needs to be copied and pasted everywhere, as a new and vital mantra for America’s future. In fact, I intend to copy and paste it on Facebook, now.
Thanks for your inspiration.
Though all nations are perfectly able to follow their own rules of law to govern their own healthcare systems, many are inexplicably giving up their autonomy.
This from 4/23/25 Armstrong Economics:
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has been scheming to finalize the Pandemic Treaty to ensure global cohesion during the next pandemic. Over 190 member nations have agreed to surrender sovereignty in the name of public health, permitting an unelected organization of individuals to detail how they will respond to the next round of government imposed biological warfare.”
The proposed example for IBA should also be adopted full-on by CBS,NBC, ABC, and all the other networks responsible for monitoring the actions of elected officials.
John and Todd, we were never perfect because nothing man made, operated, and adapted for the times ever was, is, or will be.
The secret sauce has always been progress, resilience to continuously achieve temporarily what’s best suited for the coming times.
Change is the only constant, and that demands energy from all sources to keep all the parts coordinated and keeping up with all the changes here, on Earth.
Trump wants only those who feed his family income to be safe and comfortable. That’s so many fewer humans than Biden was able to pull into safe and comfortable.
I have always been fortunate in living a safe and comfortable life and I expect everyone who posts to sheilakennedy.net is in a similar lifestyle.
Progress has always expanded inclusivity in boats like ours but there will always be others not as fortunate.
We keep making room for more in our boats but now our energy is overtaxed bailing out our boat from the Ruling Triumverite’s fetid water.
Keep bailing everyone, and we will survive this onslaught and whatever comes next.
Freedom was never free.
Yes, Vernon! Goodness, Yes!
Right on, Vern!
I would expropriate all billionaires’ assets to set up a Wealth Fund for the people. I would also retake the internet and control AI. Any savings or profits AI generates should also go into the wealth fund.
Every working American should be able to work 40 hours a week and afford the basic amenities for Americans. Unions rebuilt from the ground up will establish and monitor this.
We also need to fund a free press that works for the people—no more oligarch-owned press agencies.
All pollution in our water and land will be cleaned up by the companies that polluted them. If they’ve already been turned over to the state, charge the industry that polluted those properties. This will force bottom feeders like CAFOs and coal mines out of business, thus creating more demand for sustainable food and energy sources.
The list can go on and on, and it should be the focus of the DNC! If a political party can’t represent the people, it should be discarded and replaced with another.
As a Canadian watching your country from the outside, I feel like I am a bystander witnessing the largest of all possible accidents–like looking up at the horror of a plane crashing while simultaneously realising that it’s heading directly towards me. I wish you well but I don’t feel a lot of hope. In a lot of ways, you guys are just too broken. It’s such a sad situation; in some ways it’s the simple corruption of your own lofty ideals that is bringing you down.
I read that last plaintive and desperate paragraph of Wilkinson’s and it’s so obvious that it definitely _is_ naive. Although deaf and blind may be better descriptors. That paragraph would engender only contempt in Trump and his allies.
John Sorg, although we have clashed at times in the past, today I can deliver you nothing but kudos and a hearty “hear! hear!” You guys are great at a lot of things, and one of the things you are the very best at? Fooling yourselves.
John H., If the U.S. implodes, you spectators won’t have anything to watch except your own descent into similar fascist anarchy. Instead of snide comments, do something worthwhile.
Interesting that, in an effort to save democracy, every suggestion to fix our current conundrum involve seemingly undemocratic methods. I hate to break the news, but God didn’t create the world in seven days. and we won’t recover everything we’re going to lose in seven months, much less seven days. I hate to be a Debby Downer, but I don’t think we get out of this without at least a small fight. That’s why I’m praying for the military to adhere to their oath and to understand that what is happening is unconstitutional.
Addressing a tyrant with civil language may seem weak but the tyrant isn’t the only one reading the summary. Walking on eggshells around an insane wanna be dictator only feeds his ravenous sense/quest of/for power. The results of his decisions i.e. Tariffs, lifting sanctions on Putin, freeing insurrectionists, firing 18 IG’s overseeing waste and fraud regarding our tax money, sending in Doge for hostile takeovers over vital Departments for American safety and wellbeing; siphoning off private info and sending that info to off-site questionable and possibly hostile sites are causing chaos and harm to Americans. It’s obvious that public enemy #1 is sitting in the White House and sanctioning all the destruction and disregard for the rule of law. My guess is that behind the scenes he’s grabbing all the deals and money he can for his personal enrichment.
I’m proud of the Americans who are joining in to protest, defend rule of law and stand up for the people that trump is grievously and unjustly bullying and persecuting. Trumps house of cards represents a minority that has no respect or regard for rule of law and the American people!
Supreme court ruled last summer that Potus could not be prosecuted for carrying out the official duties of the office. Trump is stepping out of his lane into the powers of Congress (impoundment) and into the Judiciary by interpreting the laws to his advantage. He needs to be reined in. There are still powers to do that and following the facts and law and aim for justice has to be the direction we go.
John H.
Your new Canadian PM Mark Carney worked 13 years for Goldman Sachs and served as Governor of the Bank of London. Are you certain he’s working for the best interests of Canadians and not the bankers?
Today, Paul Krugman described Trump as a virus. This is the same diagnosis that Thom Hartman provided last week. The sad thing is that both diagnosis are incorrect. Trump is a cancer and he is rapidly mestastisizing throughout our system of government! We are depending on the legal system to save us, which is a lot like immunotherapy. Doesn’t always work. Surgery is urgently required.
Before we all get carried away, please remember that pure socialism doesn’t work any better than pure capitalism and free speech is one of the bedrocks of freedom. The trick is and has always been to find the balance points between all the competing forces. Extremism is not the answer if we want to progress toward “a more perfect union.”
Feeding extremism leads to war..That is one of Trump’s most powerful.weapons.