During a public appearance on a bookselling tour, Justice Barrett opined that we are not, in fact, in a constitutional crisis. According to her, the rule of law is not crumbling, so the public’s anxiety is misplaced. What should we make of this?
Two things. First of all, the Supreme Court has already redefined the “rule of law” in this country in favor of Trump by routinely giving him emergency relief with little or no explanation on the shadow docket. For Trump and the Court, the “rule of law” no longer includes decisions by lower courts and compliance with normal appellate procedures. Second, it is clear that the majority of the justices are going to continue to assume that Trump and his minions are behaving in good faith when it is perfectly obvious that they aren’t. That will only encourage them to push the envelope as far as it can go.