The common thread of the first Trump administration was that this presidency was not “normal” and the courts should not “normalize” it. Left-wing advocates and scholars argued that the Trump administration: should not be given the right Regarding “estimation of regularity”. For example, Professor Dawn Johnson received a lecture The Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference stated, “Courts can and should pay attention to reality and context and adapt the screen of deference when the circumstances dictate.” and so on. I wrote about these developments on the following site. some length.
We are already seeing similar pleas as Trump 2.0 begins. in new york timesNancy Gartner, a former Clinton appointee, and Joel Cohen, a former prosecutor, offer advice on how judges should consider prosecutions by the Trump Justice Department.
In previous administrations, federal judges generally had well-founded confidence that the Justice Department and the post-Hoover FBI were not being used to attack political opponents under presidents of either party. was. Most district judges, especially those who have served as federal prosecutors, believe that the prosecutors who come before them will act with integrity and that their work will challenge the current administration and its leaders. I believe that they are not being manipulated to undermine us.
Judges are likely to assume that the warrant has passed through several layers of approval within the Justice Department, all the way to a very high-ranking official in the Justice Department, the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division. The judge may also have reasonable confidence that there will be few, if any, mistakes after going through the layers of the approval process, including senior department officials.
But given the president-elect’s surprising comments and his appointment, it’s fair to question whether judges can still assume that level of trust in the vetting process. The previous assumption that prosecutions would only be brought against individuals suspected of committing a crime may be wrong.
Currently, when a judge is asked to review a writ petition or other ex parte submission from the government, the judge says: You should do so through a different lens.much more carefully than before.
There’s nothing new here. We’ve heard it all before.
