When Trump gave the inaugural address for his second term, he promised to bring unity. In some ways he has — the American public is pretty united in not liking the guy according to the last Gallup presidential poll made public before they mysteriously decided to end the 88-year-long tradition. In others respects, he has broadened divides. Right-wingers swallowed the “We took the freedom of speech away” pill with relative ease because their mouths were preoccupied with licking the boot, but even they wiped their mouths and stood on their rights when the Administration tried to argue that Alex Pretti deserved to die because he had a gun on him at a protest. Those little crises blew over quickly, but his recent temper tantrum over the 6-3 in Learning Resources v. Trump may have more staying power. The rationale for the holding was simple: the Constitution vests Congress with the power of the purse and the Executive’s use of IEEPA to tariff countries at whim was an overstep. Seems simple, but Agent Orange took the holding as a personal attack and responded by openly insulting the justices that didn’t see it his way before he re-implemented arbitrarily tariffing by other means:
While the legality of his new plan of action is ultimately up to the Court, the break in decorum that arises from the President calling the Supreme Court of the United States’ justices “disgrace[s] to the Nation”and “swayed by foreign interests” needs to be addressed by someone.
The ABA has taken it upon themselves to remind Trump that presidents shouldn’t openly insult members of a branch that literally exists to keep the other branches of government in check. They had this to say:
The recent remarks by the president of the United States, leveling personal criticisms against members of the U.S. Supreme Court, are not acceptable and cross a dangerous line that threatens the safety of the judiciary and our judicial process. These remarks, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs, referring to the justices as “a disgrace to our nation” and “disloyal to the Constitution,” threaten to erode public confidence in the judiciary.
While judicial opinions are always subject to analysis and critique, such disagreement must be voiced with respect for the facts and the law and must respect the independence and integrity of the courts. Personal attacks against individual justices, particularly allegations that they are influenced by “foreign interests,” are wholly inappropriate. Such statements risk undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in an impartial judiciary, foundational pillars of our democracy that have guided our nation since its founding.
They end the finger-wagging with a call for leaders, especially Donald Trump, to keep their bad words to themselves. The language is a bit more formal, but that’s really the gist of it. As much as I understand and respect the ABA’s attempt to bring decorum back, I don’t have high hopes of it making much of a difference. Before the President’s outburst, Chief Justice Roberts has said very little about the President’s frequent badmouthing of judges, excluding the one or two times that Roberts said calling for their impeachment was a little too much.
Given that Trump is scheduled to give the State of the Union tonight, we’ll see how effective the ABA’s admonishment will be.
American Bar Association Statement On Personal Attacks Against Supreme Court Justices [American Bar Association]
Earlier: Chief Justice Roberts, Welcome To The Cuck Chair
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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