Does Donald Trump or his DOJ have the right to defy an order from the Supreme Court?

[kentuck]

When the Supreme Court becomes an overt tool of the White House, it's time to turn out the lights. The party is over.

The longer this story drags on, the more the likelihood the Court will become a partisan tool of Donald Trump and his DOJ. It's a scary thought, but not an impossible projection.

The Supreme Court is not immune from the propaganda of the Trump Republicans. They have the partisan virus that permits them to overlook the law and our Constitution for political purposes.

It is dangerous ground on which we now tread.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. What you need to know about judges is that they are very protective

of their role as the third and equal branch of government. The fact that they have lifetime appointments also means they are not beholden to whoever appointed them; since they can't be fired they don't have to worry about being sacked because they displeased the president. While a majority of the current court is ideologically conservative, there's nothing in any of the opinions I've read so far that suggests that they are also Trumpers; in fact, both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have already sided with the four liberals in a few cases. Actually, Clarence Thomas is probably the worst of the bunch, and William Rehnquist was worse than anyone on the court now - he was Nixon's Bill Barr.

In answer to your question, no, Trump doesn't have the right to defy an order of the Supreme Court. The problem is how to make him comply. But keep in mind that these judges are human beings who are as capable of being pissed off as any other human being, and if Trump defies their orders they aren't going to like it and will be that much less disposed to think well of him. Will this affect their rulings in the future? Stay tuned.

[ehrnst]

13. Thanks for the info. Good to remember. (nt)

[onlyadream]

16. Thank you so much for your level-headed comment. nt

[spanone]

2. If he's successful at going around the SCOTUS the senate might as well crown him king.

[kentuck]

3. He already controls the Senate, the DOJ, and the Executive Branch...

It could be argued that he controls the House, also. He has them frozen with indecision and inaction. Once he shows he has control of the Supreme Court, there is nothing else left.

He is the official dictator of America.

[CrispyQ]

5. "...frozen with indecision and inaction."

If House dems impeach we might lose the House. If House dems don't impeach we might lose the House. Once we lose the House we lose the country. If we haven't already.

It's looking like the future of this country is going to come down to a horribly compromised electoral system.

Don't worry. It can't happen here. My friends have been telling me that for some time now.

[CaptYossarian]

15. The House has to make a careful decision--based upon what you said about losing.

The other thing is that the GOP Senate won't convict this career criminal. Pelosi doesn't want to waste the time and effort if the orange goon won't be removed anyway. She'd rather use the time wisely and pass legislation to help America.

[watoos]

17. Yeah ok,

she has passed over 100 pieces of legislation, how many have made it past McConnell?

Dems need to be careful by being careful they don't suppress our base from turning out.

[CrispyQ]

20. No one has a crystal ball.

I'm of the opinion that if the House doesn't impeach, all those new voters who came out for a midterm will believe that the dems are weak or that there isn't much difference between the two parties, & stay home in 2020. I believe that impeachment is the only way to get the network nightly news - the ones that most Americas watch, not MSNBC & CNN - to cover the crimes of this administration. I'll be patient through Mueller's testimony, but if the dems don't start impeachment after that, I'm betting they will punt if off to the voters. In the meantime, Trump will campaign on "the dems didn't think I did anything wrong either," & continue his destruction of our country.

[dalton99a]

9. +1. He sure is acting like the midterms never happened

[Bettie]

10. They might as well, except that

Mitch thinks he's the king.

[uponit7771]

4. K&R, politically things started breaking bad against Nixon once the SC ruled

[brush]

6. Let them go ahead. They will regret it. Defying SCOTUS is another impeachment argument.

[watoos]

18. You bet,

we need to keep our powder dry so that we have a big stockpile stored up for after the election. Republicans are using up their powder now.

[Stuart G]

7. If the Supreme Court orders Trump to carry out a Supreme Court decision, and he doesn't do it,

then Trump is disobeying a court order. If Trump disobeys a court order, Trump is breaking the law. This would be clearly unconstitutional and Trump could be arrested. It is not that complicated. The court (almost any court, (like the county court, orders someone to pay some fine, and he/she doesn't pay, then he/she is breaking the law.
...Trump must obey the court. (Especially the Supreme Court) The court could order him to be arrested if there were the votes, then there would be an arrest. The legal scholars here can verify if the President of the U.S. has the ability to ignore a Supreme Court decision. A court order is a court order. If someone disobeys a court order, what happens?..After some time, off to jail.

[Igel]

11. Not that simple.

SCOTUS orders, but apart from a few marshals SCOTUS has no police; SCOTUS has no prosecution authority. It has no jails. It has no authority over any *state* prosecutorial authority or enforcement officials, and if any are offered, it has no authority to accept.

All the federal folk that are responsible for executing the laws are in what's aptly called the "executive" branch.

The president has no authority to ignore a SCOTUS order. Ability? That's not quite untested. However, the prosecution, trial, and penalty for not abiding by a SCOTUS order resides in Congress.

[brush]

22. Capitol Police might come into play.

[snowybirdie]

8. It's been done before

Andrew Jackson defied a Supreme Court ruling that tried to stop the removal of Native American tribes from Ga. to Oklahoma. He did it anyway. Nothing happened. The Court has no police power. Donald Trump admires Jackson!

[brush]

23. We'll see if that plays today. IMO trump doesn't have the guts to...

defy SCOTUS. He always backs down—from his Iran threats, from the NK threats, from Syria, from the alleged immigrant expulsion he postponed but still says is coming up soon, from Russian troops and planes in Venezuela.

[MineralMan]

12. Well, SCOTUS just kicked that back to the previous court, really.

They disagreed with the decision. They did halt the question for the time being, but didn't block it permanently.

On that question, we still have to wait and see.

Still, the SCROTUS does not have an army or any law enforcement organization to enforce their rulings. Nobody ever thought that would be needed, I guess.

[hibbing]

14. He apparently can do anything he wants to do n/t

[watoos]

19. Why wouldn't Trump/Barr defy the SC?

when they know that impeachment is off the table.

[Calista241]

21. They're going to come up with a new reasoning to add the citizenship question.

Which Chief Justice Roberts basically told them to do in his opinion. Since nobody really bought the ‘enforcing the voting rights act’ line.

Trump will come up with some new excuse, they’ll have the census printing before the ink is dry on his executive order, and then they’ll delay everything as long as they can before a court stops them.

And a new court case will have to take into account Robert’s opinion that said the question is legal to ask. And the reasoning could be as simple as “Trump wants to know.”