The rule of law is more important than feelings about Trump | Opinion

In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Americans have a lot to think about. Trump supporters can be happy that he wasn’t killed or more seriously injured, but Trump opponents have a tougher question: Are they secretly sorry that he wasn’t killed? If, upon reflection, Trump opponents secretly harbor such feelings, then they certainly have something to be sorry about. Their hearts are in the lawless zone.

Law and order must operate on both sides of the street. It is easy to seek justice for our friends, but if we do not also sincerely seek justice for our enemies, we are no longer a nation of laws, or a nation of men. There are disturbing signs from both the left and the right that some Americans have come to embrace violence rather than rely on the ballot box and the courts.

Let’s start by talking about the sins of the left. Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin murdered a black citizen named George Floyd in May 2020. Floyd was not a model citizen. He had been arrested multiple times for robbery and drug charges and was in the middle of another crime when Chauvin stopped him. Floyd was no hero, but Chauvin’s choking him with his knee was the very antithesis of law and order. Worse, the Floyd incident was part of a much deeper problem of racism in law enforcement that we have rightfully been trying to solve.

But that is what happened, even if it wasn’t through rioting, looting, arson, or chaos. Democratic politicians did not condone the violence, but many offered the excuse that the protesters were only responding fairly to intolerable oppression. The net result of an anti-police stance was the destruction of civil life in cities like Portland and an indifferent attitude to petty crime that dramatically reduced the quality of life in cities like San Francisco and New York. You don’t live under the rule of law when only certain laws are enforced against certain people.

Just because we have a just cause does not excuse violence in a democracy. But when we use violence for an unjust cause, we are doubly condemned. The storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was the largest attempt to overturn the rule of law in American history. This was not about looting stores or flipping cars. This was an attempt to overturn our democracy, first through fraud and then through violence.

In the George Floyd case, there were legal avenues in the courts to address the injustice that was done. Derek Chauvin was tried, convicted and jailed. Donald Trump claimed the 2020 election was stolen. There were legal avenues in the courts to address his claims of fraud. Around 60 lawsuits were filed, but 60 judges, including some Trump-appointed judges, have determined that the election was not stolen and that President Joe Biden won fairly.

But the violence we all witnessed on television followed. As many as nine people died and hundreds were injured. Republicans who condoned, or worse, glorified, rioters because they had no cause to fight are worse than the Democrats who condoned the George Floyd rioters. They’re not just threatening our way of life in some parts of the country, they’re threatening it everywhere.

Many Americans alive today will unfortunately remember the last time violence and anarchy dominated American affairs. Much of the anarchy in the 1960s began with left-wing anger over the Vietnam War, much of which was justified, but it led not to a change in election results but to unjustified rioting in the streets and protests on college campuses across the country. Our foundations were shaken, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were both shot just months before the contentious 1968 presidential election, and assassinations became a commonplace part of American life.

Right now, we have no justification for violence. We are not at war. Unemployment is low. The stock market is soaring. The courts are dealing with the Chauvin case, and are dealing — slowly — with the charges related to January 6th. The courts have determined that the 2020 election system worked, and even if there are some disagreements on the current Supreme Court, the Supreme Court is legally constituted. The justices of the Supreme Court are duly appointed. Their personal mistakes may be reprehensible, but what they have done does not justify any form of violence. For now, we are under the rule of law.

As Democrats and Republicans reflect on the assassination attempt on President Trump, they should ask themselves whether their own growing tolerance for violence contributed to it, and whether it’s time to work on building up our institutions instead of undermining them with lawlessness. Get well soon, Donald Trump. And the same goes for all Americans.

Thomas G. Moukausha He is a former Connecticut Complex Litigation Judge and former co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Employee Benefits. Common Flaws: Unnecessary Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways to Reduce It.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.