“Let’s Kill All the Lawyers”: Trump’s EOs in the Spirit of Bills of Attainder
Whatever its faults (and there are more than a few), “the rule of law” underpins democracy as a bulwark against authoritarianism. It is not only the system of laws that does this, but the actors who are most closely aligned with ensuring that the rule of law works: the judges and lawyers.
Nothing makes the intent of creating an authoritarian system more evident than undermining the judiciary and lawyers. That the judiciary must be independent is well-known. Less so lawyers.
The well-known phrase from William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II, Act IV, Scene II, “the first thing we do is, . . . [more]