Dahlia Lithwick: The Supreme Court May Be Tired of Bill Barr

[babylonsister]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/supreme-court-bill-barr-unstoppable.html

The Supreme Court May Be Tired of Bill Barr
The attorney general seems unstoppable in all but one important venue.
By Dahlia Lithwick
June 22, 20206:25 PM



How much further can Bill Barr push it? Having repurposed the august Department of Justice to serve as Donald Trump’s personal sanitation staff and all-out vengeance machine, the attorney general has fallen so low that his single overriding purpose now seems to be to protect the president’s friends and persecute his enemies. He has yet to face any consequences for his actions, though they are more appalling by the day. Rep. Jerry Nadler on Sunday dismissed impeachment of Barr as “a waste of time.” But there are at least tentative signs that the disgrace that Barr has brought upon himself and his Justice Department is starting to wear on the one institution that can hold him to account: the U.S. Supreme Court, or more precisely, on Chief Justice John Roberts, whose fifth vote is essential to most of Barr’s dreams.

snip//

Still, the disgust Bill Barr has amassed is widespread and bipartisan. Lindsey Graham expressed dismay at the way the Berman firing was handled. This Tuesday, over 80 percent of the George Washington University law faculty signed a letter condemning Barr, a GWU alum and member of the law school’s Board of Advisors, for a long series of lawless actions, from distorting the Mueller findings to the clearing of Lafayette Square. “Since 2019 Attorney General Barr has made the Department of Justice unrecognizable to those of us who prize its independence from politics and its commitment to the highest standards of the legal profession,” these signatories note in the letter. “We cannot remain silent in the wake of the damage he has done to the integrity of the Department, the rule of law, and the constitutional order.” This letter, on top of the previous letters from DOJ alums, reveals the extent to which the famously reserved legal profession has recoiled in horror at Barr’s complete contempt for the legal and institutional values that the department traditionally privileged above partisanship.

The Supreme Court may also be paying attention to the legal profession’s rejection of the attorney general. After all, the signatories to the letters are educators and lawyers with handprints all over the federal court system. The Berman firing and ensuing GWU letter come just as Barr’s DOJ is reeling from one of its worst weeks at the U.S. Supreme Court. Landmark defeats in both the Title VII and DACA rescission cases were not merely body blows for Donald Trump, and on his signature issues of religious freedom to discriminate and immigration enforcement, but also blows for the Justice Department, even if they originated under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The DOJ has been relentless in seeking that the Supreme Court clean up its spills, running cases directly to John Roberts’ door. The court has gone along with these demands in many cases, frequently lifting lower court stays to allow Trump administration policies to go into effect even as they are challenged in court. But the charms of doing Trump’s bidding—particularly in cases with sloppy lawyering and quitting DOJ attorneys—may be wearing thin. Last week’s losses, plus the refusal of the court to take up the Justice Department’s attack on California’s sanctuary city laws, may signal that Barr, as much as Trump himself, has worn out his welcome at the Supreme Court.

In short, one has to begin to wonder whether Barr, a textbook zealot who cares not at all for preserving the appearance of propriety or independence, may have finally met his match in Chief Justice John Roberts, who prizes those things even above partisan outcomes. As Preet Bharara pointed out this past weekend, the slow decay of the integrity of the DOJ is not something that can be checked by laws, statutes, or rules. The Justice Department and its prized independence are the result of decadeslong norms and a post-Watergate battle for public trust. Bill Barr doesn’t give a damn about norms or public trust, but John Roberts cares about them a great deal, and he may prove to be the one man that could make a difference in their restoration.

The endless end of term will reveal the extent of Roberts’ disdain for a DOJ that wants the court to do the unpopular work of allowing LGBTQ discrimination, gutting DACA, and punishing sanctuary cities, all as DOJ lawyers turn in shoddy work and indefensible analysis. Roberts was already bored of such conduct in last year’s census cases. It remains to be seen whether he will sign off on the extreme work product behind the president’s financial records claims.

For those who were sorely disappointed by Roberts’ refusal to use the Senate impeachment trial to slap back at Trump and Trumpism, that ask was, at least in my view, always too public and too dramatic of a man who doesn’t want to be in the limelight any more than necessary. John Roberts was never one to go mano a mano against the president. But just as Barr seems to be happy to dismantle the rule of law brick by brick, in the dark of night, over years, the chief justice may be prepared to thwart him, case by case, brick by brick, in narrow opinions that draw little attention in the moment but land a body blow in the aggregate. Right now, Barr appears to be unstoppable simply because he is determined to use the power and prestige of the Justice Department to fight Trump’s most trivial and demeaning personal battles. But as lawyers inside the DOJ and throughout the country give voice to their concerns, they may have an ally on the inside who hates the corrosion of justice and law as much as they do. It’s easy to characterize Barr as unstoppable simply because no amount of public outrage seems to stop him. But at some point, Barr will possibly go too far for John Roberts, and that may be the beginning of the end—and it may have already begun.

[malaise]

1. Disbar this scumbag

Get thee to the greatest page

[leftieNanner]

2. Great Article

Worth it to read the whole thing. (no paywall)

Barr and McConnell are the two evil twins in this government right now.

If SCOTUS rules against The Idiot-in-Chief a few more times, especially with respect to the taxes, this could get interesting.

Barr thinks he's invincible, and so far, he has been. But it ain't over yet.

[Leghorn21]

3. Yeah, take a number and get in line, y'all

(great news!!)

[Blue Owl]

4. The tedious trump toady has grown tiresome...

Let him fry!

[KPN]

5. Wishful thinking?

[OnDoutside]

8. We'll find out soon, with some high profile decisions due, inc Trump's Taxes and an abortion ruling.

[scarytomcat]

11. by law they need to let those cases go forward

to do other is wrong

[C Moon]

6. There are probably many very rich people in the U.S. who DON'T want to live by Putin's laws.

[stopdiggin]

7. men without honor

find no value in it. But .. being without it does have a price.

[diva77]

9. Why does GWU allow Barr to remain on its Board of Advisors?

(Small concern compared to everything else, i know.)

[scarytomcat]

12. sent them a letter by mail and tell them

If enough people say no to all these people and their bullshit it could get through

[Duppers]

13. Good question.

We need to see action.

[Nitram]

10. One of these days Barr will be called to count and will end up without allies.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

14. We need a Department of Justice, not the Billy Barr's Dirt Services it has become.