Dec 23, 2019 6 min read

One of the hallmarks of civilization is the rule of law. When laws are codified and enforced fairly, people know how they are expected to behave. Laws hold us to standards we set for ourselves. An important aspect of a just society is that we are all equal before the law. This was the irresistible logic of the Civil Rights movement; Dr. King was not trying to get America to try something new, but rather to live up to the ideals we had already declared.

President Trump promised to break the norms, and he has certainly lived up to that promise. Unfortunately, one of the norms he is breaking is the respect for the rule of law. He likes the freedom to do what he likes; his view of the world is a transactional one, not one bound by laws (for example, this summer he offered to pardon aides who broke environmental regulations to build the border wall). In a transactional society, there is no justice, only expressions of power, might makes right. People with power are worshiped, not restrained. Only weak leaders allow themselves to be constrained by things like the law.

This can be seen in Trump’s interference in the military justice system, when he pardoned three servicemen who were to be disciplined for violating the laws of war. The military is asked to do two contrasting things, be violent against our enemies but under control to minimize harm to innocent people. Military justice takes this into account, so if a soldier or sailor has been convicted by a military court, this is a judgment made by people who know the fog of war. Loyalty to peers can sometimes overwhelm loyalty to laws, so it can be difficult for cohesive organizations to police their own members, and overturning their efforts to do so (as Trump did) makes it less likely that others who see wrongdoing will report it. An undisciplined army is an ineffective one.

In overturning the decision reached by the military justice, Trump undermines the need to adhere to restrictions. For Trump, the Geneva Conventions serve no useful purpose; they only restrain American power. He doesn’t understand that our power is enhanced when we show restraint, because by doing so, we are more likely to get support of noncombatants who are often vital to our efforts. Our restraint wins us allies because they can count on us to act consistently is supporting the rule of law. It also helps our troops; when our enemies know they will be treated fairly if they surrender, they are more likely to do so. A lack of constraint engenders fear, which may work in the short term, but is an insufficiently sound foundation on which to build a stable world order.

An exceptional new movie, “The Report,” documents the heroic efforts of Senate staffers to expose the torture program that the CIA implemented after 9/11; fear of terrorism pressured the CIA to “take the gloves off” (in the words of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld) and go outside the law. Infamous “black sites” and Guantanamo Bay were used to avoid U.S. jurisdiction, and John Yoo of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department provided a weak veneer of legality to actions that were clearly against both the law and our morals. While many people who participated in this program may have believed they were doing the right thing, both the Senate report and an internal CIA report found that the illegal techniques didn’t work; much more useful intelligence was gathered using traditional FBI methods like patient empathy to encourage cooperation.

Trump’s view of law enforcement similarly prioritizes force over legality. He complains when police officers protect the heads of suspects as they are put in the police car. He pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Ariz.) who was illegally targeting Hispanics in his efforts to “get tough” on undocumented immigrants. But being willing to use illegal force doesn’t lead to justice. As police abuse cases in Chicago (and other areas) demonstrate, coerced confessions can not only mean that innocent people go to jail, it also means (and this is the part often overlooked by the proponents of “enhanced interrogation”) guilty people remain free. Lawless police alienate the community, making it harder to solve cases. Abiding by the law can seem restrictive, but the long-term benefits greatly outweigh any costs.

Tariffs create opportunities for transactional behavior. Trump threatens tariffs, and then makes exemptions to them based on the supplicant’s abilities to please him. I just participated in a telephonic town hall meeting with my representative in Congress (Guy Reschenthaler) who spoke about the importance of Trump’s tariffs so that we could stand up to China, but in the next breath declared that anyone who has a business suffering from the tariffs should see him so they could work on getting an exemption. Either the tariffs make sense or they don’t; it shouldn’t be tariffs are only imposed on people who don’t have a congressman in their corner. Consistently enforced laws make it easier to invest; uncertainty drives up costs, not profits.

The most obvious attempt to uphold the rule of law is the impeachment process. Trump claims that it is “a coup” or an attempt to “nullify” the last election. Since the Democrats are using a tool that is in the Constitution, and Trump’s effort to seek foreign interference in our election was exactly the sort of behavior impeachment was designed to constrain, the Democrats are clearly acting legally. The goal of impeachment is not to punish Trump; impeachment is not a criminal trial. Impeachment will not send Trump to prison. The goal of impeachment is to remove from office a president who has clearly chosen not to abide by the limits set by our legal system. Trump, like President Nixon before him, believes that as president, he has the right to do anything he wants. Impeachment is necessary to demonstrate that no one, not even the president, is above the law.

Kent James is an East Washington resident and has degrees in history and policy management from Carnegie Mellon University. He is an adjunct professor of history at Washington & Jefferson College.