In the two weeks since the election, everyone with a podcast, blogsite, or news network show (outside of Fox News Channel) has been engaging in discussion over the “worst case scenarios” that lie ahead in the next four years. The dark predictions range from giant internment camps for American citizens, to mass deaths of women of child-bearing age, to World War III and nuclear annihilation. I’m not going that fatalistic, but I am predicting an extension and expansion of our current Age of Lawlessness.
Founding Father and our 2nd President John Adams famously said that America is a “government of laws, not of men”. It was a shot at the monarchy of England and one of hundreds of warnings issued by those that drafted and framed the Constitution that a successful nation could not be built upon the whims of one leader, one prosecutor, or a small group of elected officials. To do so would place those in power above the law, would lead to selective enforcement and prosecution, and would cause wild swings in social standards. John Adams, meet 21st Century America.
While Donald Trump and his acolytes have been beneficiaries of this status in the past–and will now use the flouting of law and rules to their advantage in the near future–they are not the only one to contribute to this situation. The godfather of this practice is our 7th President Andrew Jackson. In his first term, he supported the forced relocation of Indian tribes from the eastern states to lands farther to the west. When the Supreme Court ruled that states did not have the right to do that Jackson made it clear he would not stand in the way of the practice. Years later a quote: “Chief Justice Marshall has made his ruling, now let him enforce it” was credited to Jackson. Historians doubt he used that exact language–but it was never discredited because of Jackson’s full-throated support for the illegal relocation efforts.
Jackson also became the first President to be censured by Congress after firing several Secretaries of the Treasury who refused to dissolve the Second National Bank of the United States–which was created by an act of Congress–and would have had to be shut down by another act of Congress. Jackson just starved the bank of cash, causing it to collapse on its own. Despite acting outside of his Constitutional authority, Jackson was never impeached–and set the blueprint for ever-expanding powers for the Executive Branch.
Since then, disregard for the separation of powers and the rule of law have only grown. During Reconstruction, former Confederate states blatantly disregarded laws meant to grant and protect rights for freed slaves. The United States fought “wars” that were never authorized by Congress, signed “compacts” that acted no differently than treaties–which the Constitution requires be approved by the Senate, re-directed budget funds without Congressional consent, enacted “security policies” that violated the constitutional rights of American citizens to privacy and due process under the law.
You would think that we have no immigration laws on the books, considering that was one of the biggest issues in the recent elections. We do have clear laws and policies in place, but they have gone unenforced, or barely-enforced for decades. Yet, discussion of enforcing what is already in place is never brought up in discussions on how to deal with the problem.
And don’t think lawlessness and disregard for the law is just a federal government thing. So-called “sanctuary cities” have passed policies and resolutions openly stating that they will not take part in the enforcement of immigration laws, will not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to enforce those laws, and will not comply with mandatory reporting of illegal immigrants that commit crimes.
We now have “Constitutional Sheriffs” who publicly state that they will not enforce any laws that they believe violate the separation of powers. Usually, this deals with weapons possession, but during the lockdown days of the pandemic, many sheriffs here in Wisconsin made it clear that they would not enforce Safer at Home restrictions on public gatherings like church services or the operations of some restricted businesses like taverns. Of course, those same governors that acted unilaterally to impose those restrictions under “emergency powers” urged law enforcement not to take action against protestors that gathered in huge numbers to protest the murder of George Floyd.
The current move to decriminalize the possession, sale, and use of marijuana comes despite the fact that pot is still listed as a Class I drug under federal law. But so many local prosecutors, city councils, and police chiefs made it known that enforcement of those laws was not going to happen, that it eventually made sense (on a statewide level) to do away with enforcement anywhere.
State Attorney Generals–those elected to enforce the laws of the states–have run entire campaigns on promises NOT to enforce laws, or at least the ones they don’t like. Wisconsin’s own Josh Kaul, on the day the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade law that allowed abortions with restrictions in the US, called a press conference to state firmly that he and his department would provide no assistance to any District Attorney that sought to prosecute those that provided abortions under the 1849 ban. DA’s in Madison and Milwaukee counties followed saying they would not enforce the ban either. A group of Democratic AG’s, on the day after President Donald Trump was declared the winner of the election, released statement saying they would not enforce any law coming from the new Republican majority in Congress and the White House that they thought would “limit rights”–even if courts might disagree with their opinion.
As we speak, clerks in four Pennsylvania counties are counting absentee ballots cast two weeks ago that do not conform with the laws and requirements of the state. That comes in direct violation of a state Supreme Court ruling and an order from Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro to stop the practice. In the New York Times, several of those clerks are quoted as saying “it’s more important to count the votes than to follow the law”.
Major retailers are closing stores in cities across the country as organized shoplifting rings brazenly steal items from shelves while police fail to respond and prosecutors refuse to press charges. The same goes for homeless encampments explicitly banned but still allowed to remain in public spaces–and the open air drug use associated with them as well. A neighborhood in the Twin Cities got national attention for refusing to call police or complain to City Hall about the encampment that popped up in their local park–until the sheer number of people living there, the drug use and dealing, prostitution, petty property crimes, shootings, and deaths became too much for even the most bleeding-hearted of the liberals to take.
And now, the majority of American voters have returned to office of President a man that will be able to directly order the dismissal of Department of Justice cases against him for inciting an insurrection and illegally possessing classified national documents–likely sharing them with our enemies. What’s more, he promises to pardon those found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of taking part in that January 6th insurrection–sparing them the full punishment and accountability for their actions.
And this lawlessness breeds the adverse response of vigilantism. “I’m going to take the law into my own hands” could become the mantra for a growing number of Americans in the near future. Those that stormed the Capitol in 2021 truly believed that laws governing the administration of the 2020 presidential election were not followed. That fact that the Lawbreaker-in-Chief was the one feeding them that “information” was completely lost on them–because they saw failure to enforce laws going on all around them in various other situations.
So that is what I foresee for the next four years: a government of men, and not of laws.
