Can President Trump Ignore the Supreme Court?

Recently, the federal courts have slapped-down President Trump’s immigration plans.  He has made it known what he thinks of the federal courtstrump ignore supreme court and the judges—the “so-called judges,” as he put it.  I anticipate more cases to be filed against his executive orders or other things he tries to do.  Can President Trump ignore the Supreme Court?

The answer, off the top of everyone’s head, is NO.

We say that because, in recent years, all presidents have obeyed the decisions of the Supreme Court.  Even at his most combative time, President Richard Nixon, during the Watergate mess, never challenged the rulings of the Supreme Court that ran against him.  The ruling that ordered him to release the tape recordings of conversations in the oval office—that eventually sank his presidency—were obeyed.

But President Trump is different than other presidents . . .

Would President Trump ignore the Supreme Court?  And if he did, are there any precedents for this behavior?

Let’s go back into the country’s history to the time of President Andrew Jackson.  During his presidency, there were still large Native American groups living in the eastern part of the country.  In Georgia, the state legislature had passed a law that prohibited any non-Indian from going onto Indian land without a license from the state of Georgia.  A young man named Worcester did so and was charged and convicted of the crime under Georgia law.  The case was appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled in Worcester v. Georgia, that the state did not have the right to license anything on the Indian land because Native American land was a sovereign nation.  Neither the state government or the federal government had a right to tell the Indians what to do on their land.

President Jackson was upset.  He spent most of his life either fighting, killing, or removing (as President) Indians from their lands.  This Supreme Court decision really started the doctrine that Indian land was a sovereign nation, like France or China.  President Jackson wrote a letter to a friend, later made public, in which he said the Supreme Court made their decision, now let them enforce it—in other words, the court didn’t have an army—Jackson was commander in chief of the army.  trump ignore supreme court

In the end, Jackson won as he removed, with military help, many Indian tribes from the eastern United States to west of the Mississippi in the tragic “Trail of Tears.”

So why have all American president since then, obeyed the Supreme Court even though the court can’t force anyone to do so?

The United States needs a governmental body that can resolve disputes and give the “final say” to controversial problems.  When presidents accept the rulings of the courts, they recognize the benefit to the country of having a final decision-maker.  We need this as a nation.  Will President Trump ignore the Supreme Court?  Let’s hope not.  And let’s hope he doesn’t remember what Andrew Jackson did.

Any ideas from you about this?

 

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About Colin Nelson

Colin T. Nelson worked for 40 years as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer in Minneapolis. He tried everything from speeding tickets to first degree murder. His writing about the courtroom and the legal system give the reader a "back door" view of what goes on, what's funny, and what's a good story. He has also traveled extensively and includes those locations in his mysteries. Some are set in Southeast Asia, Ecuador,Peru, and South Africa. Readers get a suspenseful tale while learning about new places on the planet. Colin is married, has two adult children, and plays the saxophone in various bands.

Comments

Can President Trump Ignore the Supreme Court? — 2 Comments

  1. Since when did the Court system become the most powerful branch? It is the court’s responsibility to look at the facts, apply the legislation and signed into law by the President then make a ruling. Otherwise, the Congress and the President are nothing more than waterboys and girls for the court system. That is not Constitutional.

    • Thanks, Ken. You’re absolutely correct: the courts are supposed to only review legislation—not make legislation. However, during the existence of the court many assertive justices have edged closer to legislating. There’s the famous quote attributed to President Andrew Jackson when the court didn’t agree with something he wanted to do: “Let them enforce it. I have the army!” Thanks for your comment, Colin

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