President Trump attacked a federal district court judge for an unfavorable decision. After granting a temporary restraining order (TRO), the judge was attacked as an “Obama judge” and mistakenly described as a 9th Circuit Judge. While the president apparently doesn’t understand the difference between a district court judge and an appellate justice, the bigger misunderstanding seems to be exactly what happened. A TRO is granted to prevent some harm or injury to the moving party or to maintain the status quo until the parties appear in court. Under federal rules, a TRO usually expires after 14 days unless it is renewed. The granting of a TRO doesn’t mean the moving party will ultimately prevail on the merits. In this case, it did temporarily prevent the president from a course of conduct by executive fiat. Once again, an angry President Trump attacked the judiciary because of an adverse opinion. This time however, Chief Justice John Roberts spoke out. Roberts said, “we do not have Obama judges or trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” He went on to state, “what we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” Roberts has largely kept a low profile since assuming the mantle of chief justice. Justices rarely step out of their role and offer personal opinions in response to criticism. His rebuke of the president was measured and proportional but a larger message may have been sent. Roberts has been a mostly consistent conservative vote. His vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act stunned some conservatives but it demonstrated his commitment to stare decisis. Perhaps the president should be concerned that his efforts to delegitimize the courts might backfire on him. At some point, the president might be running to the court for protection. Many law and order types become big fans of due process when they become targets of the justice system. Did Roberts tip his hand? As constituted, the court leans slightly to the right. In the past, the Supreme Court has ruled against presidents a number of times. As envisioned by the framers of our Constitution, the Court is a check to the legislative and executive branches. Maybe the president is counting on his appointees to protect him. The rest of us can only hope that there truly are no “Trump judges” and like Chief Justice Roberts has shown in the past, the rule of law will always prevail.
Vita in Lega