{"id":26166,"date":"2017-01-20T15:35:09","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T20:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=26166"},"modified":"2017-01-20T16:10:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T21:10:02","slug":"a-new-era-the-rule-of-law-in-the-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2017\/01\/a-new-era-the-rule-of-law-in-the-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Era: The Rule of Law in the Trump Administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Well, here we are, January 20, 2017, and Donald J. Trump has been sworn in as this nation\u2019s 45th president, though he achieved that position by losing the popular vote<\/a> by the widest margin of any winning candidate in recent history (2.9 million more people<\/a> voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton<\/a>), and he arrives at his new position with the lowest<\/a> approval<\/a> rating of any president in recent history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As numerous others before me have written, President Trump\u2019s campaign was not traditional in any number of ways, and I expect that his presidency will follow that trend. For some, that\u2019s been the whole point. For others, that\u2019s a less-than-inspiring harbinger. I wrote<\/a> this summer about my concern about the candidate\u2019s rhetoric, proposed policies, and the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Though he has since backed off some of his campaign promises (for example, about having a special prosecutor investigate<\/a> rival Clinton for her use of a private email server\u2014a favorite chant at his rallies was \u201cLock her up!<\/a>\u201d), nothing since that time has changed my view. I continue to believe that the president won\u2019t be appreciably different from the candidate. The rule of law doesn\u2019t appear to matter to him nor does he seem to believe it will ever apply to him. He\u2019s already responded to the many questions about his business ties and associations creating conflicts of interest with the technically correct answer that a federal conflicts-of-interest law does not apply to him; but other rules and restrictions do.<\/a><\/p>\n

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano says<\/a> the rule of law is \u201c[t]he greatest distinguishing factor between countries in which there is some freedom and those where authoritarian governments manage personal behavior.\u201d It is, Judge Napolitano says, a \u201cthree-legged stool on which freedom sits.\u201d He explains,<\/p>\n

The first leg requires that all laws be enacted in advance of the behavior they seek to regulate and be created and promulgated in public by a legitimate authority. . . . The second leg is that no one is above the law and no one is beneath it. . . . The third leg . . . requires that the structures that promulgate, enforce and interpret law be so fundamental\u2014Congress writes the laws, the president enforces the laws, the courts interpret the laws\u2014that they cannot be changed retroactively or overnight by the folks who administer them.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As my colleague David Papke wrote<\/a> this summer, \u201cAmericans live by the rule of law more so than any other nation.\u201d As law students and as lawyers, we have a special duty to make sure that the rule of law continues, that it is upheld. We have special skills and access to people and institutions. As we head into this era, I implore you to be vigilant. We must use our powers for good: defend the rule of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, here we are, January 20, 2017, and Donald J. Trump has been sworn in as this nation\u2019s 45th president, though he achieved that position by losing the popular vote by the widest margin of any winning candidate in recent history (2.9 million more people voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton), and he arrives at 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