Can the Courts Fight Trump?

You Betcha!

It’s been 8 days since my last post. My next post will explain the break—it’s complicated.

As I have repeatedly stressed, my interest is in strategy, which is a process of figuring out what resources we have and how we can use them to win. This post will identify five actions that we and the courts can take if Trump defies a Supreme Court order.

Our Constitution assumes that three branches will serve as checks and balances to each other. Of course, Congress is now lying supine at the feet of Trump. However, the third branch has emerged as a willing and fearless (so far) defender of the Constitution. Our best resource at this point is the court system which has behaved in a slow but spectacular fashion. Courts work very methodically to determine what is going on and whether it conforms to the laws. Of course, the other side can break laws much faster than we can document them. But it is absolutely critical that we stay within the law.

One of the worst things that can happen when a dictator tries to seize power is to start a violent counterrevolution which often results in a second successful strongman imposing another kind of dictatorship after we have supposedly “won.” Kerensky deposed Czar Nicholas II in Feb 1917, and Lenin deposed Kerensky in Oct 1917. The French Revolution deposed King Louis XVI, and Napoleon deposed the Revolution. My position is that every bit of damage that Trump can do can be repaired, but revolutions often result in nasty, incalculable outcomes.

It is impossible to say what the Trump Administration will do, but it may well drag its feet to an unprecedented degree— pretending that it does not understand court orders, finding new fraudulent legal pretexts for its actions, saying it can’t come to court today because it is already scheduled to come to court the day after tomorrow, etc., etc., etc. Trump foot dragged his way through multiple legal proceedings in 2023 and 2024, so he is very familiar with the process.

Things will come to a head eventually. I haven’t been gathering quotes (I meant to, but lawyers don’t usually speak in memorable terms), but the consensus indicates that Trump will lose most cases on the Supreme Court level. David French believes that Trump will lose on birthright citizenship by 7 – 2 and lose on most other issues as well.

Even MAGA seems to sense that SCOTUS is not with them. They are beginning to curse Barrett and Roberts with all their might, and Barretts’ relatives are getting pizzas delivered that they never ordered. The message is, “I know where you live.”

To summarize, although Barrett and Roberts believe in some version of the unitary executive, I do not think they believe in a lawless executive. I am currently gathering materials to be able to write a post on the individual personalities and legal inclinations of the nine justices.

Five Things We/SCOTUS Can Do

1. Enforce court orders. Many have pointed out that federal court orders are enforced by US Marshals who are supervised by the Justice Department. This makes sense because they can share training facilities with other federal enforcement agencies. Will the DOJ hinder them from enforcing court orders? Alert subscriber Sandy G. pointed out an article written by Attorney David Noll that states that court orders can be enforced “by a United States marshal or deputy marshal or by a person specially appointed for that purpose.” I am sure there would be plenty of fired FBI agents who would be happy to carry out a court order against the Trump Administration.

2. March of 1000 Robes: As described in a post last month, 1,000 judges from all over Europe marched to protest the violation of the Polish constitution. This would be a great event to replicate in the United States in case the Trump Administration violates a Supreme Court order.

Such a march should occur two – three weeks after Trump violates a court order. Obviously, the prep work needs to start in advance. I think Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is a professor of constitutional law would be an obvious point man to organize such an event. If any reader has a point of contact with Rep. Raskin, would you please let me know? You can DM me by clicking on my name. Otherwise, I’m going to make it my business to bring this idea to his attention. I have relatives living in the Washington DC area and so seeking an appointment with him or his chief of staff would be quite possible.

3. Boycotts: I was thinking of suggesting a nationwide boycott, which might be called CyberCON [Constitution] Monday. The idea is that you conduct no business by computer on Monday although the business can be postponed to another day of the week. If adherence was robust, it would be noticed. If adherence was weak, that too would be noticed. I don’t think it’s time for this idea quite yet, because Trump could use it as an excuse to say that the libs have wrecked the economy.

While I was ruminating about the CyberCON Monday boycott, the Tesla boycott took hold. I think it is marvelous, because it is narrowly targeted against one of the two villains of our time. Although I hope no one touches a private individual’s Tesla, I am quite comfortable with damage done at dealerships, but don’t shoot into dealership windows with guns! I figure that the poor people who have died because USAID was fed into the woodchipper are worthy of being avenged with material damage. I don’t know how that fits in with the grand tradition of Catholic ethics, but I think it is appropriate to avenge a life with more than words.

4. Occupy Washington—the Big Event. I was born and raised in Washington DC, and I lived there almost half of my life. If 500,000 people come to the National Mall prepared to peacefully camp out for as long as it takes, this will have a decisive impact. We must be nonviolent. We must be ready to get shot at. We should bring gas masks. If Trump and his minions do shoot at us, the blackness of their souls will be known to all for all time. We can flood the streets with hundreds of people, more than the police can take up.

I did take part in one anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington DC. We basically walked slowly through the streets singing songs. Nothing much happened. However, there was another protest at which 30,000 people were arrested and held for 10 hours in the local football stadium. I think they put zip ties on their wrists. But no one can arrest 100,000 people. Also, believe you me, the DC police are as leftist and hip as you would care to meet. I fear them not. They might try to get us to move, but they won’t be the ones using tear gas. BTW, the reason the DC police helped to evict the Institute for Peace from its building is they were lied to about who were the rightful occupants.

5. Occupy DC Boycott: At the same time as Occupy DC, all supporters of the Constitution nationwide should stop buying anything to the absolute best of their ability. Eat all your food in the house before you buy anymore, and if you need to buy food, buy the cheapest food you can get by with, the food of the poor, such as rice and beans.

Good News About the Military

Finally, a word on the military. Our truly admirable armed forces showed their true colors this week when they leaked the plan to show Elon Musk the Chinese war plants. They deliberately leaked it to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. What they have shown us is that if Trump tries to use the military for nefarious purpose, they will let us know!

BTW, everyone in the military becomes an expert on running silent and running deep. All members of the military must put up with unpleasant situations and not show their true feelings. Thus, we will always have plenty of real constitutional patriots in high places who will be ready to rat out any attempt at an unconstitutional use of the military.

The only danger I saw in the military was the possibility that Pete Hegseth (whom I prefer to call Cheap Kegsbreath) might try to set up a loyal legion of Trump troops who could be trusted to supply illegal muscle at the administration’s command. However, I don’t see how that could happen without some constitutional patriot officers noticing. In addition, I hope that constitutionally loyal officers could join this legion and keep higher ups informed about their every move. In a crisis, they could tell constitutionally loyal generals to nip any action in the bud.

The fact that Pentagon brass leaked to the NYT and the WSJ is the absolute best thing that happened last week!!!

BTW, Saturday April 5 is a National Day of Resistance against Trump.

I think it is important to show our numbers on that day. Find a demonstration near you and call the press and TV stations to make sure that it gets covered. Take pictures and DM me. I will let you know where to email your pics. I will run pictures I receive on April 6. April 5 is being organized by Indivisible. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a local group.