Professor Meghan Leonard from the Department of Politics and Government responds to President’s Trump’s Twitter attacks on the judiciary in a new blog post published on the LSE USCentre’s daily blog on American politics and policy.
Leonard’s post is titled, “Despite Trump’s attempts to delegitimize them, the Courts are checking executive power exactly as they should.” She notes that in “recent weeks (we) have seen Donald Trump’s controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries halted by rulings from federal judges.”
Recent weeks have seen Donald Trump’s controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries halted by rulings from federal judges. In response, Trump has attacked the judiciary, arguing that they do not have the power to stop his order. Leonard writes that the Courts’ ability to undertake judicial review in cases such as this are at the heart of judicial power in the United States. And while presidents in the past – from Lincoln to Obama – have challenged decisions, they have been generally unable to limit the power of the Courts. Rather than facing a constitutional crisis, she argues, our system is working exactly the way it is supposed to.
Read the full blog post on the LSE USCentre blog.
Leonard is an expert on public law with research interests in the areas of judicial politics, state courts, court institutional legitimacy, and judicial decision-making. Recent publications include refereed articles in the Justice System Journal and American Politics Research.
