To the Editor:
Individual rights are at the heart of the Constitution, as expressed by the framers in the document’s preamble with key phrases like “to establish justice” and “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity.” To establish justice, the Constitution makes no distinction as to wealth or status; all are equal before the law, and all are equally subject to judgment and punishment when they violate the law.
Formed in 1870, the Department of Justice represents the U.S. Government in legal matters and courts of law, and renders legal advice and opinions upon request to the president and the heads of the executive departments. The Attorney General heads the Justice Department, and the FBI is the principal law enforcement body for federal crimes.
By separating the three branches of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) and giving each separate but equal powers and responsibilities, the framers understandably assumed they were adequately protecting the people from any individual attempting what President Trump is endeavoring, to turn our 250-year-old representative democracy into an autocracy.
The guardrails established by the framers would have proven adequate, except the founders could not have imagined an entire political party and a third of America’s population following a sociopathic, narcissistic conman and convicted felon (a president who purposely incited an armed mob he later pardoned to attack our Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power) into a death spiral leading to the surrender of every value and principle upon which the Constitution was conceived.
Judges, recognizing their limited powers of jurisprudence in Trump’s Administration, are fleeing the Justice Department. They can decree, order, rule, mandate, and require all day long, but (in the words of one federal judge) “we have no armies — we cannot enforce our own judgments.”
To protect the rule of law and to preserve democracy, judges must rely on the people, and the people who could make the difference have chosen to remain silent even in the face of losing the rule of law and our Republic.
None of what is happening in our country today could possibly be happening had not this nakedly corrupt and morally compromised Republican Supreme Court given our unprincipled and disreputable president reason to believe he is above the law which (according to our Constitution) he is unequivocally and absolutely not.
A salute to special prosecutor and distinguished public servant, Jack Smith, for his unwavering loyalty in extraordinary times. The same to 79-year-old Mark Wolf, who recently resigned after 40 years as a federal judge to join other like-minded judges on the front lines to try and safeguard the founders’ ideals of rules of law and democracy.
These men know well the risks of their undertaking, that well-nigh 30% of our population disagrees with their point of view and even more slumber silently on the sidelines feigning neutrality or a pretence of loyalty to unfit, frightened and unprincipled leaders.
The framers could not have imagined any of this lunacy Americans have chosen.
David L. Snell
Franklin