The executive and judicial branches are locked in an escalating showdown, and it remains to be seen whether the tools that courts have at their disposal are enough to restrain Trump.
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Meanwhile, I'm glued to the escalating showdown in the Senate.
Cory Booker showing us the toughness it takes to be a real athlete and campaigner for democracy.
I gave him two spots in my Starter Pack!
Legal expert Professor Tobias Barrington Wolff breaks down the power struggle between the judiciary and the executive branch in a must-read Q&A with The Big Picture. Check it out here. 👇
They are still individuals. Two will go along with Trump, three will oppose, two of the remaining will probably oppose and the other two will probably go along, but those four are a grey area. They could go either way. But the supreme court is not a monolith
Didn’t finish law school, became a PI working for lawyers. But to answer your question yes I’m familiar with Citizens United but it had its roots in Buckley v Valeo “money is speech” decision. Both were very bad for democracy - the most $ has the loudest voice.
I agree with the sentiments that Trump is going to try
and ignore the courts. If recent experience is anything to go by it would need some decent republicans and a strong opposition to restrain Trump and I just can’t see that at present. I sincerely hope I am wrong.
I know this is beside the point, but Tobias Barrington Wolff is a wonderful name, the name of a great Shakespearean Actor with a capital A from a bygone age
Thanks for posting - it answers some of the questions that have worried me (being Australian & not familiar with your system) about the power for courts to enforce rulings.
The rendition of 17 more men Sunday night looks like a clear violation of a court ruling. They admitted they took at least one person to El Salvador by mistake but refuse to bring him back. It should not be legal for the government to take people beyond the reach of the courts and due process.
People are the essential support of any supposedly "democratic" institution. Left to fend for themselves, they will of course perish - they were brought to life only by the people's will. This is what it lacks today - everyone's just sooo comfortable in their lives - so much to "lose"...
We do not need to wait and see the courts fail. They have no enforcement mechanism.The president has all badges with guns. Judges and their families are being doxxed today. J6 felons are threatening elected officials with death letting them know they can get another pardon.No historian says wait.
I really don't think the administration cares what the courts say. They'll do whatever they want since they've learned that there are no consequences for their actions.
I am hoping that our gigantic, defiant protests in the days to come will have the GOP checking the temperature of their constituents, & we know that won't be pretty, it will only take a handful of them jumping ship to regain some sort of balance at least in congress.
Yeah; how can they enforce any of the rulings?? He doesn’t care and they’d have the physically stop him. He refuses be accountable to anyone but Putin, I suspect.
It’s definitely going to be a fight. The administration has shown that it will proceed as they want in many cases. In other cases they are stoking fires with the MAGA people against judges who stop Trump’s administration. A lot of mistrust will soon cause violent reactions.
If they were the site Trump or any of his administration for contempt of court, who's going to go make an arrest? The people who do the arrests are in the executive branch. And there's the rub.
Trump is not seeking justice, he wants authoritarianism.
Timothy Snyder starts “On Tyranny” with, “Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given.”
Martial law is a pretty logical upcoming step. Pick a self created crisis (violent terrorism against a great company like Tesla, clearly organized by those nasty Democrats), and send AOC and Sanders off to a concentration camp. Wish I was not serious.
Yeah... I figure the likelihood if them actually appointing someone "outside" to be low. But even if they do (which would come months down the road) it would be immediately challenged by the DOJ I'm sure which would start THAT whole winding timeframe.
The law is meaningless to criminals. So no. We don't have the "legal" tools to stop the bs. It will take body power and humans willing to sacrifice and risk their health.
I think we have seen that the courts do not have the power or the ability to help the United States as a whole. Our Congress is incapable of working together to impeach, and no one can get rid of Musk. What's left?
WW3. Which the US will lose. France is stationing nuclear equipped submarines in Canada close to the US border. They made a show of force where they had one reveal itself (previously undetected btw) and then made it disappear again. For some reason this isn't being reported by US media.
A French nuclear equipped sub (which was previously not detected), made a big deal of surfacing, making itself visible, and docking at Halifax, disappearing again afterward. That's the US being told "we're not playing around". Dump immediately stopped talking about Canada. Not reported on US news.
Yes George - this really looks like the existential fight for our nation.
If the judicial branch loses, it's only a matter of time before the nation falls.
The US has already fallen. Europe and NATO are preparing for war. France is stationing nuclear submarines in Canada close to the US border. They did a deliberate show of force when they surfaced one (previously undetected) specifically so it could be seen, before making it disappear again.
The US will NOT win that fight, NATO along with the EU will curb stomp the US. The US's military for decades has been only trained and equipped to "defeat" small countries without any effective defense.
Not to mention the uprisings and military mutinies that would take place in the days after the war starts. The only way Trump wine is to demand mutually assured destruction and even then, that requires more than one person to launch nukes.
They are not locked in a showdown. The judiciary lost every round. Trump should have been jailed pending trail on 21st of Jan 2021. They didn't manage to put him on trial in 4y.
He should have been barred from being on the ballot for election given he is an insurrectionist.
Justice casualties.
I think this is showing us that courts need their independence reinforced. Term limits and shouldn’t be appointed by the executive. Courts also need enforcement powers, including the ability to arrest other branches of government when they disobey lawful orders. What could this look like?
The problem with depending on rule of law to save us is that laws become nothing but words on paper once there are no longer people who are willing or able to enforce them.
Merrick Garland would probably say something like “The judiciary should always avoid giving the impression of being political. I recommend they do as the President says and do it quietly.”
Comments
Cory Booker showing us the toughness it takes to be a real athlete and campaigner for democracy.
I gave him two spots in my Starter Pack!
Are you familiar with Citizens United?
Do you think it’s good for democracy?
Do you believe that’s how we got here?
Do you think the Felonious regime is fascist?
Look forward to your thoughts as an attorney? Yes?
and ignore the courts. If recent experience is anything to go by it would need some decent republicans and a strong opposition to restrain Trump and I just can’t see that at present. I sincerely hope I am wrong.
You know it
The question is if the courts will stand up for the constitution
Stand down Captain. That order was NOT legal.
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/if-the-marshals-go-rogue-courts-have-other-ways-to-enforce-their-orders/
#Resist
Donaldo delenda est
Timothy Snyder starts “On Tyranny” with, “Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given.”
RESIST — Everyone, Everywhere, All at Once!
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/if-the-marshals-go-rogue-courts-have-other-ways-to-enforce-their-orders/
They just have to grow sufficient spine to use them against the rich and powerful.
If the judicial branch loses, it's only a matter of time before the nation falls.
He should have been barred from being on the ballot for election given he is an insurrectionist.
Justice casualties.
https://generalstrikeus.com/