via
Getty)
It
feels
passé
to
say
that
we’re
in
the
middle
of
a
rule
of
law
crisis.
That’s
like
saying
the
Louisiana
v.
Callais
decision
was
a
slight
suffrage
setback.
Tasteful
understatement
has
its
place,
but
at
what
point
are
you
just
choosing
to
play
nice
over
accurately
describing
the
world
around
you?
The
rule
of
law
is
at
a
nadir
—
we’re
seeing
shit
so
dire
that
it
makes
the
Magna
Carta
look
like
a
pipe
dream.
Not
only
does
the
United
States
has
a
“king”
whose
mental
capabilities
have
him
on
his
4th
annual
please-don’t-be-too-demented
mental
check-in
(worse
numbers
than
there
being
17
members
in
the
T14),
that
same
guy
has
broad
criminal
immunity
and
just
excused
himself
from
the
IRS
investigating
his
finances.
And
for
salt
in
the
wound,
the
main
responses
toward
accusations
that
the
presidency
has
become
a
monarchy
have
been
tongue-in-cheek
White
House
propaganda
and
some
guy
who
makes
Yale
Law
look
really
bad’s
whataboutism:
Mind
you,
this
is
just
the
tip
of
the
ICEberg.
Or
NICEberg
rather.
Trump
thinks
that
N-wording
ICE
will
make
people
more
amenable
to
the
secret
police,
but
doing
so
would
require
Congressional
approval.
That
means
nothing
can
stop
him
from
doing
it
—
it
isn’t
like
he
actually
needed
their
approval
to
go
to
war
with
Iran.
But
hey,
there
might
be
a
silver
lining.
While
I
still
think
that
the
doubleplusungooding
that
follows
is
an
understatement,
it’s
a
step
in
the
right
direction
of
no
longer
being
able
to
pretend
how
bad
the
state
of
the
rule
of
law
is
now.
Dartmouth
has
coverage:
The
rule
of
law
in
the
United
States
has
deteriorated
to
its
lowest
level
in
at
least
a
decade,
according
to
the
first
joint
survey
of
federal
judges,
elite
lawyers,
and
law
professors
by
Bright
Line
Watch
and
UCLA
School
of
Law’s
Safeguarding
Democracy
Project.The
survey
reports
that
under
President
Donald
Trump’s
second
term,
legal
experts
perceive
a
significant
erosion
of
the
rule
of
law,
including
politicized
law
enforcement,
a
dysfunctional
separation
of
powers,
and
overreach
by
the
executive
branch,
based
on
data
from
Feb.
19
to
March
6.
In
good
faith,
is
it
worth
pointing
out
that
the
legal
experts’
opinions
may
shift
toward
a
more
dire
assessment
of
the
rule
of
law
if
they
were
asked
to
opine
today.
The
March
6th
cut-off
misses
little
developments
like
Trump’s
effective
“I
bought
you”
comments
toward
Amy
Coney
Barrett
and
Neil
Gorsuch.
Supreme
Court
legitimacy
is
one
of
those
frail
bulwarks
that
supports
the
rule
of
law,
after
all.
At
the
time
of
the
study,
most
of
the
legal
experts
didn’t
think
that
there
would
be
any
change
to
the
rule
of
law
by
2027
and
only
a
modest
improvement
by
2032.
Good
to
see
that
there’s
still
optimism
among
the
intelligentsia!
My
money
is
on
the
Top
Secret
Military
Ballroom
being
built
and
in
use
by
2032
and
considering
that
they’re
already
protecting
against
drone
strikes
on
the
White
House
now,
who
knows
what’s
on
the
pipeline
a
couple
of
years:
Some
other
highlights
from
the
report:
80%
of
the
experts
think
that
the
Supreme
Court
is
using
the
shadow
docket
incorrectly,
80%
think
that
federal
officials
often
fail
to
comply
with
court
orders,
and
about
half
of
the
judges
surveyed
are
concerned
about
being
harassed
if
they
rule
against
the
government.
Rough
time
for
the
rule
of
law.
Legal
Experts
Say
Rule
of
Law
Has
Hit
a
10-Year
Low
[Dartmouth]
Earlier:
Trump
To
Gorsuch
And
Barrett:
I
Made
You,
I
Can
Break
You
Over
50
Bar
Organizations
Stand
Up
For
The
Rule
Of
Law
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
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.