Doing the Right Thing

Doing the right thing isn't easy when you have a would-be dictator and a squad of political terrorists threatening you. That's what these people really are, and they are frankly scary. They don't care whether they destroy whoever and whatever stands in their way. I don't blame the law firms or universities that have caved to the terror tactics. I don't blame the federal employees who remain quiet in the hopes of keeping their jobs. Until you're in their shoes, how can you know what you would do?

But I stand in awe of those individuals and institutions with the courage to speak out, and the determination to preserve freedom and the rule of law.

This week, the kudos go to Harvard University, the law firms that are saying no to the Trump administration and the courageous federal judges who are insisting that the administration respect the rule of law. They just might save our Constitution.

I underestimated Donald Trump. Oh, I wrote mountains of columns when he was running, and in his first term, about the threat he posed to our democracy. It was bad. But this is worse.

I didn't think he would try to destroy our colleges and universities. But that's just what they are doing. The letter he sent to Harvard was beyond the pale. To claim it was an effort to address antisemitism is an offense to Jews. They are using Jews as a pretext for a war against academic freedom, as an excuse to audit who gets in and who gets hired, and as a sword to second-guess what is taught and who does the teaching.

Alan Garber, a Jew, is the president of Harvard University. I trust him to fight antisemitism more than anyone should trust Donald Trump and the DOGE boys. I was a student at Harvard Law School and also a tenured professor there. I taught criminal law to first-year students. I introduced rape into the curriculum of the criminal law course -- with a focus on the law's racism and sexism. If Donald Trump had his way, 30-plus years later, that would be prohibited. My course on gender discrimination would have flatly violated the Trumpian ban on anything remotely smelling like DEI. My books -- notably "Real Rape" and "Sex and Power" -- could never be assigned and, if Trump had his way, would be banned. In the name of antisemitism? How dumb does he think we are?

What Donald Trump is doing in the name of enforcing immigration law is itself a violation of the law. This week, two federal judges stood up to Trump. On Wednesday, Judge Jeb Boasberg, who was first appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, found probable cause to believe that the Trump administration was in criminal contempt for willfully ignoring his order not to deport migrants to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. In doing so, he made clear that if the Trump Justice Department had no interest in pursuing contempt, he would appoint a prosecutor to do so. "The Constitution," Judge Boasberg wrote, "does not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders -- especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it."

The day before, in Maryland, federal district Judge Paula Xinis sharply rebuked the Trump administration for doing nothing in the face of a Supreme Court order that it take steps to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who -- because of what the administration had conceded was an "administrative error" -- was illegally deported to El Salvador. The most powerful man in the world -- and the biggest bully -- is taking the position that he is powerless to undo a mistake that threatens a man's life. That dog don't hunt. Xinis wouldn't buy the administration's BS and made clear that she intends to get to the bottom of it, demanding that the administration produce details of its efforts under oath and giving Garcia's lawyers permission to depose as many as six Trump administration officials.

On the same day, Susman Godfrey, the law firm that represented Dominion Voting Systems in cases dealing with the false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent, won a temporary restraining order against a Trump edict targeting the firm and its clients. Susman joined two other firms, WilmerHale and Perkins Coie, in suing the administration for what the judge called its unconstitutional "coercion." Nine firms have cut deals with the administration. The administration has made clear that it will expect more of these firms than pro bono work for veterans and against antisemitism. Hopefully, firms that have not been targeted yet will be moved to follow the example of Susman Godfrey, WilmerHale and Perkins Coie in standing up to Trump. If law firms are afraid to fight back, and Republican senators are afraid, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski admitted on Thursday, what hope do we have? Now is the time for courage, as the federal judiciary has shown.

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To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.