The Courts Alone Cannot Help Us

Stanford Constitutional Law Fellow, Duncan Hosie, recently published a NYT essay titled “The Courts Cannot Save Us from Trump.” It deals with the danger of overreliance on the U.S. judiciary to counter a determinedly assertive and  autocratic executive branch of government, particularly when neither the judiciary nor the legislative branches are inclined to assert themselves in opposition.

Hosie diagnoses our tendencies to track court rulings as a misplaced need to find structure in this administration’s frequent attacks on the rule of law. Focusing on the courts as a defense misses the larger objective of these attacks: to disrupt the underlying judicial structures themselves. As Hosie states, “we should place less hope in the courts and more faith in politics.”

He highlights how activists have stepped in to assist through organized mutual aid and community resistance in the form of protests and petitions. This article echoes the work of Brown Professor Corey Brettschneider (Stanford JD). Brettschneider focuses on the historical context of unchecked executive power in his latest book, The Presidents and the People. His book catalogues the misuse of presidential power but emphasizes how  direct resistance from the American people, rather than counting on compliant jurists or complicit legislators, is often necessary to protect our civil liberties.

Image credit: Luca Nardone

We welcome Professor Brettschneider as our honored guest on May 2^nd to discuss this timely issue. Organizing this exclusive, in-person event has presented challenges for our volunteer organization, but we feel the importance of interacting with the author in person merits the extra effort and expense of bringing him here, to Orange County, in person. We hope you agree! Please click here to learn more about the event.

Note that Early Bird tickets are only $5 (including light meal and discounted book price). The deadline for Early Bird is March 31^st.