Legal Resistance

    Resources

    • Read more about how gov workers who may become whistle blowers or make a difference in their offices

    Legal Challenges to Trump Administrative Actions

    The central problem isn’t that the courts have upheld legally dubious actions or even that the White House is openly defying adverse rulings. Rather, it seems that chaos and disruption are themselves central to President Trump’s objective.

    - Prof. Steve Vladeck

    Context: Not everything that the Trump administration does is legal - but traditionally our infrastructure is not intended to hold the president of the country accountable as quickly as we do to regular citizens. The legal fights are thethenumber one way to fight against Trump's unconsistutional actions.

    Why it Matters: The authoritarians want you to not care about issues that don't directly effect you. They want you to believe that it's okay to treat other groups like the undoccumented or visa holders without the same rights because they would never do the same to you. This is how they attain compliance in advance. The administration in the first few months were focused on "testing the waters" so learn what exactly they can "get away with". Without legal checks - there is no stopping them.

    The more we allow non-compliance to be normalized, the more openly those around Trump can argue that court orders don’t mean anything at all.

    How to Respond: Keep the conversations up and call out the illegal tactics - especially if you work in media, law, or government. Always keep the conversations focused on legal and constutional importance of following the law rather than the specific issues he's using to justify his actions.

    Resources

    For Lawyers and Law Firms

    • Volunteer for organizations that need the legal strength such as We the Action nonprofit volunteering, Immigration Legal Response Center to help immigrants, or ProJourn to stand up for the first ammendment.
    • Find pro bono opportunities with your local bar association. (See, e.g., the American Bar Association’s volunteer opportunities webpage)
    • Learn more about the crisis support networks coming online and convince your firm to partner with them.
    • Share these opportunities with others in your networks and encourage them to do the same.
    • Read the section below on Friday Night Massacres and how you can strategize.

    Responding to "Friday Night Massacres"

    The "Friday Night Massacres" is a reference to the Nixon era strategy of firing his special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal on a Saturday night. It was called the "Saturday Night Massacre" to highlight his recklessness and attempt to hiding a shameful action by doing it on the weekends in hopes that the media will be less responsive in the moment. Trump is using this tactic not as a last resort but as a constant strategy in hopes that when reporters and politicians come back into the office on Monday they will be so overwhelmed they just capitulate to his decisions.

    Put simply: Trump hopes that events will move so fast after a Friday Night Massacre that, by Monday, we’ll all just decide there’s nothing we can do and accept the abuse.

    Ben Raderstorf

    Get ahead of it

    Keep an eye out for stories on types of legislation or executive actions that might be passed. Authoritarians rely on shock and awe

    Respond and be loud

    Share publicly both the impact and illegality of the situation and then take action. Explain how you will respond and hopefully fix the problem he has caused.

    Don't buy into the delusion that he has ultimate authority

    We are not dealing with a king and the president's executive orders do not carry as much power as he likes to believe they do. Can he cause incredible damage to relationships, systems, and programs? But these are not permanent actions. There is always options of fighting back with lawsuits, legislation, advocacy, or organzing.

    Sources: