in political science, Politics, US History 816 Words

Dare to Speak Up for Justice!

The justice system in the United States is under attack. This is not a totally silent assault.

Photo on Unsplash

President Trump and his minions freely call judges names. Calling federal judges such things as “leftist” or “radical” or “deranged” or “monsters” or “idiots” has been a Trump rallying cry.

I don’t know if Trump understands the danger in doing this or whether he is just following the lead of his people like Stephen Miller who know it is a basic way to erode confidence and ultimately destroy the rule of law in our country.

A federal judge takes a vow “to follow the rule of law without fear or favor.”

The unique U.S. judiciary

We have a unique judicial system in the United States. Judges are independent of politics – or they used to be. Our judicial system is the envy of other countries where a national leader can call a judge and dictate how they rule on a case. Law students in the former Soviet Union marvel at our independent judiciary.

Attack on Judge Salas’ family

In July 2020, Judge Esther Salas opened the front door of her home in New Jersey and was met with an angry young man with a gun. Salas’ husband was shot and her son, Daniel, was shot and killed.

The cowardly assailant then turned the gun on himself and was dead when police arrived.

But the killer didn’t just wake up one day and decide to try to murder Judge Salas or her family. He was spoon fed hate speech from the President of the United States. If the President says judges are terrible people, it must be true. Right?

But it did not stop there. Not only has it not stopped; it is escalating.

Intimidation by Pizza

After Daniel’s murder, federal judges across the nation started receiving pizza deliveries – pizzas they had not ordered. Pizzas were being delivered “from Daniel.”

The message was clear: “Judge _____, we know where you live.”

Some adult children of federal judges who don’t even live in the same state as their parents have received such pizzas “from Daniel.”

The message to judges is clear: “Judge ____, we know who your children are and we know where they live.”

At least 50 federal judges have received unwanted pizzas “from Daniel.”

It goes beyond Intimidation by Pizza

Federal Judge Jack McConnell has received six death threats. Laura Loomer, one of Trump’s unofficial advisors, and Elon Musk have launched verbal attacks on his daughter.

Judge McConnell has been wrongly accused of judicial misconduct. A member of Congress went so far as posting a “Wanted!” poster in the halls of the U.S. Capitol with Judge McConnell’s photograph. There are unfounded articles of impeachment pending against Judge McConnell.

Federal Judge Robert Lasnik is being asked by younger judges, “How can I keep my family safe?” Judge Lasnik and his adult children have received pizzas “from Daniel.”

Federal Judge John Coughenour says he signed up for this, but his family did not. A SWAT team was sent to his home when someone told police that the judge had murdered his wife. Of course, it was not true. He has been the victim of bomb threats.

Federal Judge Esther Salas grieves that her dead son’s name is being weaponized by the people who hear Trump call judges names and take that as a call to action to intimidate and threaten the lives of judges. She says we need to recognize this for what it is: A real threat to our democracy.

Attacks from the White House are unprecedented

In the decade after the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1954, some judges who tried to enforce the desegregation of public schools ruling were victims of verbal assault; however, Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy supported the Supreme Court ruling.

For President Trump to now brazenly and proudly criticize court rulings and the judges who make them is unprecedented. Federal judges have never before been attacked by the U.S. President or White House staff.

This is serious. This is unacceptable.

This is a concerted attack on the independent judicial system in the United States of America.

What can we do?

We can educate ourselves about what is happening.

We can tell our friends and relatives what is happening, because this is more widespread than most of us realize.

We can explain to teens and young adults who are too young to know that attacks on judges is not normal that this is a direct result of the reckless behavior of President Trump and those who follow his lead.

We can speak up for justice and the rule of law every time we know it if being attacked.

“We the people” are the United States of America. It behooves each of us to defend the rule of law.

Janet

26 thoughts on “Dare to Speak Up for Justice!”

  1. Very scary times and more people seem fine with that. Until it happens to them personally, who cares and so what? Woke may be dead but Racism is Awake and gaining strength.

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  2. These are scary times, and those of us who are “woke” don’t seem to be making a dent in stopping the chaos. I feel like I’m spitting into the wind.

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  3. You may be, but keep fighting the good fight. I saw another blogger commenting on a third party blog about how the Moslems were taking over Britain and therefore couldn’t condemn Israel’s killing of Gazans standing in line for food. Our fears are greatly outstripping our common humanity and sanity.

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  6. The radical right agenda is spreading around the world. We’re going to have to save ourselves. By the way… my blood is boiling. I just read that Trump is pulling the US out of UNESCO because of their woke and politically divisive agenda! And he’s fired Brian Driscoll, the former acting director of the FBI — the one who refused to give Trump a list of the FBI agents who investigated the attempted coup. This has been a bad week on many fronts. So far I have 10 of them to blog about tomorrow.

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  7. It has been wretched week. And the hits keep on happening. At least a judge has temporarily halted further construction on Alligator Alcatraz because of environmental concerns.

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  8. I listened to a Brennan Center of the NYU Law School the other day. The intimidation of federal judges (and judges in Florida) is far worse than I realized. There were 2,600 of us listening in and the chat was inundated with comments asking what can we do about it. Educating ourselves and others was all the panel of federal judges had to offer. It was a wonderful hour-long discussion, but no one seems to have any answers. People on chat were pleading for advice, but we didn’t get any. My blood is boiling. I just read that Trump is pulling us out of UNESCO because of its woke and politically divisive agenda! UNESCO! I am furious!

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  9. I watched an hour-long panel discussion hosted by the Brennan Center at the NYU School of Law the other day. The situation is far worse than I realized. The worst part was that the panel of federal judges had no recommendation for what we can do about it other than educate ourselves and others. There were 2,600 of us listening, and the chat was full of people pleading: What can we do? I just read that Trump is pulling us out of UNESCO because of its woke and politically divisive agenda! I’m furious!

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  11. I saw the article today about Justices that get pizza “From Dan (or whoever the judge killer was). Their grown children who live in different states also get those pizzas–saying we know who you are and where you live.

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  12. At this point, all I get from beating my head against a wall over things I can’t control is a bloody head. I have to have faith that those with the power and authority to do something on our behalf will do it.

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  14. Thanks for attending the discussion and relaying the news. I hope you have a way to forget your troubles through meditation or reading. We must resist, while keeping ourselves well so we can persist.

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  15. You make an excellent point, Rebecca. There for a while I was making a point to listen to relaxing music every day, but we’ve had one too many power surges this week and now Media Player on my desktop computer has stopped working. I was enjoying just popping in a CD to listen to while I did various things. Hoping it will heal itself! Thank you for the reminder. You are right!

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  22. But I don’t lose hope, I know God is in charge and although He doesn’t interfere, He does not forget us. Have a blessed and happy weekend Janet and don’t doubt the sun will shine and its light will be useful. 😊

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  23. I think God is weeping over the state of things in the United States as He is allowing the free will He gave humans to play out. I know it will all work out in the end. I also know that might not be in my lifetime, for God’s infinite time is not the same as our finite time. I was blessed to live most of my life in a free but flawed country.

    Once in a while today the sun peeks out from behind the clouds for a few seconds. It is a welcomed though fleeting sight! I can’t remember the last time we had this many days without the sun in any season, but it is indeed extraordinary in August.

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  24. Who are we to understand the ways of God. We live by faith and by knowledge which comes from His word. You are so right Janet. God allows man’s free will to play out and is always there to make sure He controls the end… I hope you enjoy the Sturgeon Moon tonight. We already saw it and it was absolutely surreal and beautiful! It rose like an orange ball from behind the eastern mountains and it was huge, immense! Have a blessed weekend Janet.

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  25. I feel so blessed that you and I can connect through our faith, Francis. I saw a photo of the Sturgeon Moon over Stonehenge on Facebook. Beautiful! It’s too cloudy here tonight for us to see the moon. It’s Day 9 or 10… or 11? I’ve lost track. No sun. No moon. Just rain, drizzle, and clouds. Very strange.

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