Out of Order by Geoff Carter « The Pen in Hand Blog

Illustration by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

“What do you call ten thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?”

–“A good start.”

“What do you throw to a drowning lawyer?”

–“His partners.”

All right, all right. I’ll stop, but people tell these jokes for a reason. They hit a nerve. We’ve all watched the tsunamis of TV ads hawking legal services, the law firms charging exorbitant fees, and the ambulance-chasing personal injury attorneys looking for a quick buck—and we’re sick of it. These feelings are reflected in pop culture—consider sleazy lawyers like Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad or Billy Flynn from Chicago or Ned Racine from Body Heat.

However, America does have a complicated love-hate relationship with its lawyers. They might sometimes be seen as shysters, but attorneys are also valorized as figures of integrity and courage. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, Joe Miller (and Andy Beckett) from Philadelphia, the titular character in Michael Clayton, Jack McCoy from Law and Order, Perry Mason, and many, many personify the law as the great leveler, the arbiter of justice, and the American courtroom as the arena of fairness.

Pop culture is only a partially accurate reflection of reality. The truth is that while there are sleazy attorneys, ambulance chasers, and crooked jurists, most attorneys are upright citizens who practice the law with integrity and honor. It’s unfortunate that only after they—and the law itself—have been under relentless attack by the second Trump administration is when we realize how much we need good judges, jurists, and prosecutors. And make no mistake, they are under attack. Donald Trump has had the legal profession in his crosshairs since Inauguration Day. He has declared war lawyers on the rule of law.

The first shot was fired at the Department of Justice, which is supposed to “serve as counsel for its citizens… and enforce the law in the public interest” (Federal Register) The president is trying to turn the DOJ into his own private police force to go after his enemies—many of them members of the legal profession.

President Trump’s first attack on the DOJ was to appoint underqualified loyalists like Kash Patel (pathetic sycophant) as director of the FBI, Pam Bondi, (former personal attorney) as Attorney General, and (former governor and puppy killer) Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Remember the DHS houses the INS and other immigration departments, a major instrument in Trump’s master plan to become an autocrat.

Vindictiveness is Trump’s middle name. He has already been using his DOJ to go after both political opponents and perceived enemies. The president ordered the department to target Jack Smith, the man who led the prosecution in the January 6^th conspiracy and the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Trump fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked for Smith and has targeted Covington, a law-firm that aided Mr. Smith, with an executive order. He also revoked security clearances against jurists involved in criminal or impeachment cases against him, a list that includes Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Liz Cheney, and Fiona Hill.

In addition, senior DOJ lawyers were fired, and a number of senior FBI employees were forced to resign. These positions will undoubtedly be replaced with Trump loyalists. The administration also announced lawyers from the Southern District of New York involved in the investigation of NYC Mayor Eric Adams would be investigated.

Besides going after prosecutors and attorneys, the Trump administration has also been targeting judges who have ruled against him in the past as well as those presently contesting his executive orders. The strategy is clear. He is attempting to hamstring our courts by intimidating our judges. This sort of contempt for the legal system is only the tip of the iceberg. As the President has been issuing slews of executive orders—many of which are in complete disregard to the law—advocate groups and private citizens have been reacting through the courts.

Labor unions have sued the Trump Administration over unjust termination of federal employees. The ACLU has sued over the illegal deportations. Twenty-two state Attorney Generals are suing the Trump administration over the illegal freezing of federal funds. Because the Republican majority in Congress has been unwilling to confront the President’s illegal actions—particularly his misuse and freezing of federal funds, which, as stated in the Constitution, is the responsibility of the Legislative Branch—the courts are the only balance left to check the president’s abuses of power. And now he is going after the judges and lawyers who oppose him. He wants it all.

According to NPR, a number of judges who have ruled against the current administration have, along with their families, been threatened. The sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently received a bomb threat, and other lower court judges have received death threats on social media. Elon Musk and some Republican lawmakers, have stated on social media that judges who oppose Trump’s agenda should be impeached. A few Republican House members have initiated these proceedings.

The president has also gone after private law firms who have opposed him in the past or that have represented clients he considers his enemies (NPR). The prestigious law firm Perkins Cole was specifically targeted in a recent executive order threatening to pull its security clearances. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell blocked parts of the order and warned “that it will be understood as ‘”an effort to intimidate”’ attorneys and prevent them from advocating on behalf of clients and causes at odds with the president.” (NPR), but Trump’s tactics have been working. A number of other prominent law firms have caved to his demands and signed agreements with the president, pledging to do millions of dollars of pro bono work for him. And this isn’t all. There have been more than a few personal threats against judges and prosecutors by Trump supporters.

“The attempts at intimidation have taken many forms: bomb threats, anonymous calls to dispatch police SWAT teams to home addresses, even the delivery of pizzas, a seemingly innocuous prank but one that carries a message. They know who you are and where your family live” (NYT). After the attack last year by a far-right zealot on Senator Nancy Pelosi’s husband—and Trump’s pardon of over one thousand violent January 6^th rioters—his MAGA loyalists, jurists know they have reason to fear.

Most recently, “a federal judge has found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt” (AP News) for refusing to return deportees from El Salvador. Another judge is considering contempt proceedings against the Trump administration in the Abrego Garcia deportation case in which he has defied a directive from the Supreme Court. We are on the brink of a Constitutional crisis, and these are the soldiers holding the front line.

We need to give credit to the courageous men and women who devote (and risk) their lives to the law. Standing defiantly against the bullying and coercive tactics of a ruthless power-hungry misanthrope cannot be easy.

This administration bends and twists the law and will destroy it if we give them the chance. As distinguished DOJ lawyers are fired or resign for refusing to abuse the law in the name of autocracy, and judges’ lives are threatened, they need to be supported, reinforced, and protected. At this moment, they are the last rampart against the lawless rampage of a malignant and narcissistic monster.

This is no joke. This is war.