Federal judge slams Trump's attacks on judiciary

[CatWoman]

A federal judge on Wednesday criticized President Trump’s repeated attacks on judges and legal decisions he dislikes, saying Trump has helped to undermine the principle of judicial independence and the public’s faith in the rule of law.

Senior Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court in D.C., a Clinton appointee, said the number of personal attacks against judges is on the rise in no small part because of Trump’s blistering criticism of unfavorable judicial outcomes.

”The current president of the United States is feeding right into this destructive narrative,” Friedman said in remarks delivered at the federal trial courthouse in Washington as part of an annual lecture series. “We are in uncharted territory."

Friedman noted that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump impugned the motives of a federal judge who ruled against him in a case involving the now-defunct Trump University.

Then-candidate Trump said District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born and raised in Indiana, was biased against him because of his Mexican heritage, and the fact he was an Obama appointee.

“Things only accelerated after the election,” Friedman said.

The judge noted that Trump had consistently railed against judges or decisions that sided against his administration over policies concerning immigration and the U.S. border with Mexico. Trump frequently cites the political leanings of the president who appointed a judge as evidence of bias.

“The reality is that when the Trump Administration has lost cases in the courts, it is not because of Clinton or Obama judges,” Friedman said, “but because of judges who are trying to follow the law and the Constitution.”

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/469499-federal-judge-slams-trumps-attacks-on-judiciary

[crickets]

1. Judges, by the nature of their job, are notoriously silent

unless communicating decisions on cases brought before them. That a federal judge is speaking out against Trump is a much bigger deal than it might seem at first glance.