Lawyers Will Fight Back At Executive Branch Overreach

Politicians have many motivations for how and when they defend or decry U.S. laws, and the courts in this country are “far more likely to maintain a commitment to the rule of law,” said UCLA law professor Adam Winkler. He spoke to the Los Angeles Times about how the justice system may serve to enforce checks and balances on President-elect Donald Trump, whose campaign rhetoric suggested he may look to take full advantage of executive authority, which has grown significantly in the last few decades. “I am very concerned about the ability of our constitutional system to check Trump’s excesses,” Winkler said. “He has expressed unprecedented contempt for the rule of law, and one of the major checks on Trump – the Congress – may not play its constitutional role because of one-party rule.” David Cole, who in January will become the ACLU’s national legal director, said he is “optimistic the courts will stand up against abuses of power. ”It depends on how far he pushes,” Cole said, “but if Donald Trump abuses his power, I think the courts will stand up to him.” Judges “value the institution of the judiciary and want to preserve the rule of law,” said Virginia Sloan, president of the Constitution Project. “We don’t know where the Trump administration will go, but we can put hope in judges who will put politics aside.”