The Real Heroes of the Assault on the Constitution
Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the US District Court in Washington, DC, is among those holding the line on the rule of law.
Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg
In the spirit of Thanksgiving gratitude, it’s time to show a little love for US federal district judges. While the Supreme Court justices get the glory (and these days, the blame), district court judges have been standing up to Donald Trump’s relentless war on the Constitution more than any other part of the government.
The media neglects them because their courts aren’t the last word. The conservative justices have excoriated them for overstepping their bounds — which in practice means failing to be prophets who can perfectly predict the conservatives’ real-time inventions of new constitutional doctrine.