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Donald Trump’s Sleight Of Hand To Pervert American Justice

May 03, 2018
by Caroline Miller
administrative law judges, Donald Trump, Greg Stohr, Margaret Newkirk, Security and Exchange Commission, Trump's War on DeepState Judges, U. S. Supreme Court
2 Comments

Courtesy of google.com

President Donald Trump will probably appoint a Supreme Court Justice during his presidency.  That appointment will tilt the current balance between liberal and conservative justices on that bench.  His choice will be of great concern and keep journalists up to their elbows in ink for months. Unfortunately, that concern diverts us from another one of equal importance: the growing number of conservative appointments  Trump has made to the federal bench.  But wait.  There’s more horror to come.  The White House is seeking to gain control over administrative law judges (ALJ), a shift that should keep everyone awake at nights.  

ALJs are judges who work within federal agencies, advising them on federal law compliance.  They are treated as government employees .  About 1900 of them exist in the system. The jobs are governed by civil service regulations, but the White House wants to change their designation.  The plan is to declare ALJs are not employees but “officers,” a reclassification that removes them from the civil service umbrella and makes them political appointees, subject to hiring and firing by department heads.

ALJs handles approximately 1.5 million cases a year.  They make rulings on disparate issues — anything from black lung cases to decisions made by the Security and Exchange Commission. (SEC)  (“Trump’s War on DeepState Judges,” by Margaret Newkirk and Greg Stohr, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, April 23, 2018, pg. 43)   If ALJs becomes subject to the approval of the White House,  our three branches of  government essentially becomes two:  the legislative and the executive branch.  The bifurcation of our government is a serious matter and one the media, with its focus on Trump’s tweets, seems to have missed.  

The  U. S. Supreme Court will  soon decide the fate of ALJ justices.  Ray Luca, a radio talk show host, is appealing an unfavorable Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling which affects one of his businesses.  He argues the ALJ who ruled against him is an employee of the agency and, as such, has no jurisdiction to make that judgement.  The White House tacitly agrees, and it has barred the SEC from defending itself.  The high court has had to appoint an attorney to represent them.

Some may insist Donald Trump has accomplished little during his tenure has president.  Yet, almost single handily, he may be altering the course of our justice system for decades to come.

2 Comments
  1. Michael Adelsheim May 11, 2018 at 2:45 pm Reply
    My father was an administrative law judge in the Social Security Administration from 1953 - 1974. Your piece reminds me of an incident from the 70's, when Senator Barry Goldwater read a bunch of lies about my father into the Congressional Record. My father brushed it off by thinking that Barry was merely proving to a constituent that he was on the citizen's side. But since Goldwater based his screed on the idea the my father was just another lazy civil servant who you couldn't fire for his misdeeds, it shows that the Right Wing has long been dreaming of that whereof you write. Thanks for calling this to our attention!
    • Caroline Miller May 11, 2018 at 3:18 pm Reply
      Thank you for sharing this epxerience. Yes, it's not the Prtesident's tweets but the sleight of hand we have to watch, and there's a good deal to watch.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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