The Summer Of Justice, Rights And Accountability
It’s taken a long time, but the law has finally begun to catch up to Trump and an out-of-control Republican Party.
“I’ll believe it when it happens.”
That was a common take among progressives and liberals, tired of the delays and the false starts over the past two years of seeking to hold Donald Trump to account for his myriad crimes and abuses.
Meanwhile, Democrats looked on, often in helpless horror, as supermajorities in red state legislatures steamrolled the opposition to pass laws targeting trans and gay people, criminalizing abortion and stripping minorities of representation in flagrant racial gerrymanders.
But then, the midterms of 2022 saw the much-feared “red wave” fail to materialize, with extreme MAGA candidates beaten back in key races across the country. Kevin McCarthy limped to a thin majority and struggled to win election as Speaker in a fractured GOP House caucus.
As the political grounds began to thaw in early 2023, hope blossomed. Democratic legislators began hitting back and standing up to the worst legislative rights rollbacks.
Blue states like Michigan and Minnesota began moving historic bills through their legislatures, leveraging their first Democratic trifectas in a generation.
And then the once unimaginable happened:
Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on felony false business filings.
But that turned out just to be a taste of what was to come.
In a critical test of the parties’ strengths, the progressive candidate for Wisconsin state Supreme Court, Janet Protasiewicz, thumped her MAGA opponent by more than 10 points in a state that normally decides elections by a single percentage point.
Demonstrators began to show up in historic numbers to protest extremist gun policies, hateful anti-trans bills and abortion restrictions and bans. The federal judiciary began to strike down the worst of these state laws.
Then in June, up stepped Special Counsel Jack Smith with a 37 count indictment against Donald Trump in Florida.
That kicked off what could prove to be a historic summer for justice, rights and accountability as our legal system responds to attacks upon our liberties, the rule of law and our democracy itself.
Let’s take in a few highlights of what else this summer has already delivered and what might still drop in the balmy months ahead.
SCOTUS Surprises
There have already been two welcome and surprising results out of the U.S. Supreme Court, in a session that was supposed to mark the High Court’s even sharper turn to the right.
First, the Court upheld the Voting Rights Act, holding Alabama had impermissibly drawn African American voters out of fair representation in Congress. That was a 5-4 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts joining the liberals and Justice Kavanaugh writing a concurring opinion.
The decision could mean trouble for similar racial gerrymanders in other southern states that were awaiting action by the Court on this case. Some election experts believe the decision could flip up to five House districts back to the Democrats in 2024.
Second, the Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act with only the two most conservative justices—Thomas and Alito—in dissent. The surprise decision—written by Justice Barrett—preserves a federal law that gives preference to Native American families when adopting Native American children in foster care.
While no one is expecting any further surprises on the positive side for the remainder of this term—with big and likely negative decisions on affirmative action due at the end of it—the above decisions have left arch-conservatives and Christian Nationalists dismayed that the Court has refused to take things further in their favor.
And that is a big win for civil rights.
Trump Indictments
Donald Trump is already under indictment and has now been arrested more times than he has been elected—in New York state court and Florida federal court. These were the two “simpler” cases of falsifying business records and the very serious but fairly straightforward charge of willful retention of national defense documents and efforts to obstruct their return.
Could more indictments be in the offing?
If you read Special Counsel Jack Smith’s filings, there are some hints that even the Trump documents case may see more action. In a recent brief, Smith argued a protective order was necessary to safeguard “ongoing investigations” where documents could be used to further cases against “uncharged individuals.”
But where are these investigations taking place and who are these as yet uncharged individuals? Could indictments drop in places other than Florida?
Curiouser and curiouser, Mr. Smith.
Then there is Fani Willis—the Fulton County District Attorney—who is leading an investigation into election interference by Donald Trump and the Trump campaign in Georgia. This includes Trump’s infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in December of 2020 in which Trump demanded the Georgia election official “find” him 11,780 more votes.
Willis has indicated a charging decision and likely indictments will land this summer, prospectively in early to mid August. The next grand jury session in Fulton County begins in July, so that will provide Willis plenty of time to present her case.
Most legal experts agree she will seek an indictment and Trump will be among the named defendants. After all, the first investigative grand jury who reviewed the facts and heard testimony from witnesses apparently recommended indictments of more than a dozen individuals.
Finally, there is yet one more federal grand jury—meeting in Washington, D.C.—currently investigating efforts by Trump to overturn the 2020 election. Many legal observers—including even former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr—believe Smith’s grand jury will issue further indictments against Trump and, possibly, some of his close associates.
This would be unsurprising; after all, one federal judge who reviewed the evidence has already determined it was likely Trump and his attorney John Eastman committed crimes—namely obstruction of Congress—and conspired to defraud the United States. It is only a small leap to convince a grand jury of the same.
By the time summer is over, it is possible Trump will be under no less than four sets of criminal indictments.
While it is unlikely to cause his base of supporters to abandon him—and could even produce the exact opposite effect with them—crucial swing voters and independents in the critical battleground states aren’t as likely to be impressed.
In the 2022 midterms they already demonstrated a strong dislike for extremist MAGA candidates endorsed by Trump; having the man himself at the top of the ticket is going to be an even bigger reason to vote for the alternative.
Standing Up for Rights
After the Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to abortion that had been guaranteed for fifty years under Roe v. Wade, red state legislatures got busy and began to enact harsh abortion bans.
They also took direction from lobbyists at the Heritage Foundation and the Alliance Defending Freedom and went after the LGBTQ+ community, targeting education around gay and trans identities, outlawing drag shows and banning gender affirming care for trans youth.
With their legislative sessions now finally at an end, it was time for civil rights organizations and defenders of freedom and equality to hit back.
The results so far have been impressive.
Federal courts put attacks on education in Florida on hold. They struck down laws on drag performances in Tennessee. And one by one, gender affirming care bans were struck down by courts with the laws now on hold in Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana and Florida.
These decisions demonstrate that even in the Deep South, extremists are way out over their skis and the federal courts are able and ready to smack them down for it. In their haste to advance the most intolerant, hateful and bigoted laws they could, GOP state legislators left a trail of animus that was easy for courts to identify.
Moreover, their moves ran straight into bedrock principles of freedom of expression and equality under the law. They had no strong argument that they did not infringe upon personal liberties in an impermissible manner.
Hope in a Time of Crisis
The attacks upon our democracy, our rights and our liberties come at a time when Christian nationalism and fascist movements are on the rise across the country. But time and again, our system of laws—along with a coalition representing a majority of voters—have turned back these attacks.
And with Trump facing further legal peril while the GOP remains tethered to him, the gains that civil rights activists, Democratic legislators and legal advocates are achieving this summer will create a clear and stark contrast between the values and priorities of the parties.
The GOP is being revealed as the dysfunctional, regressive, anti-democratic and anti-pluralistic party of the Christian right, led by a twice impeached and multiply indicted criminal. The Democrats by contrast appear united, progressive, pro-democracy and diverse.
If this narrative can hold through to next November, the GOP could lose decisively. If the case can be made definitively, the GOP could face electoral annihilation in 2024.
But that work, that messaging, that accountability begins now, in what could prove to be a historic summer.
Like none before it.
YES! Thank you for this excellent summary of the situation. You have shown me that things may not be is as bad as I have feared and have given me hope for the future.
I will get (more) excited when I see POTUS45 wearing a jumpsuit that matches his hair colour.