Is Trump Deportation Doctrine The New Trail of Tears?

Andrew Jackson often is associated with threatening to ignore the law, particularly regarding his conflict with the Justice system itself. The most famous instance involves his response to the 1832 case Worcester v. Georgia.

The U.S. Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, had ruled that the state of Georgia could not impose its laws on the Cherokee Nation and that the Cherokee people were entitled to their lands under federal protection. Sensible, I know.

However, the horribly corrupt and deceitful Jackson, who was a strong proponent of rushed barbaric deportations, reportedly responded to the ruling with the declaration he was above the law.

President Jackson was one of the most, if not the most unjust, immoral and corrupt in American history

Although Jackson’s exact diatribe may not be definitively recorded, the essence of his position reflected his unwillingness to abide by a court ruling. Jackson was not inclined to follow a decision he unilaterally disagreed with.

Thus, his administration continued with forced removal of the Cherokee people, known as the Trail of Tears, despite the ruling to halt immediately. The Jackson deportation has since been recognized as mass armed arrest to push non-whites into concentration camps for ethnic cleansing.

…we will get clear of all Indians in Mississippi, and have a white population in their stead.

This incident is emblematic of the tension between Jackson and the judicial branch, where a President simply ignored the Court’s authority. His ignorance caused great suffering, foreshadowing today’s latest challenge in U.S. checks and balances.

Each president is allowed to select their preferred carpet and drapery colors, as well as statues and portraits. On Monday, President Donald Trump brought a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, back to the Oval Office.

The White House has said, as if to invoke the racist, immoral ghost of Jackson, it will ignore the Justice system and maybe even try to impeach judges who disagree with Trump.

Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric against the federal judiciary on Tuesday in a highly unusual statement that appeared to be aimed at the president’s call to impeach judges who rule against him. […] Trump is attempting to invoke a 1798 law that allows the federal government to expedite deportations of citizens of a “hostile nation” in times of war or when an enemy attempts an “invasion or predatory incursion” into the United States. […] Roberts’ statement Tuesday was similar to a rebuke the chief justice issued in 2018, when he responded to Trump’s remarks by saying that, “we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”

The political impeachment threat to judges goes back even earlier to 1804, when Federalist judge Samuel Chase was accused of bias. The US Senate has in total considered only 15 judges for impeachment since the country’s founding. Of those, only eight were found guilty in a US Senate trial, as you can see here:

Judge Position Year Charges Outcome
Samuel Chase Supreme Court Justice 1804 Political bias and arbitrary rulings Acquitted
John Pickering District Judge (NH) 1803 Intoxication on the bench, misconduct Convicted & Removed
James H. Peck District Judge (MO) 1830 Abuse of power Acquitted
West H. Humphreys District Judge (TN) 1862 Supporting the Confederacy Convicted & Removed
Mark W. Delahay District Judge (KS) 1873 Intoxication on the bench Resigned before trial
Charles Swayne District Judge (FL) 1904 Abuse of power, financial impropriety Acquitted
Robert W. Archbald Commerce Court 1912 Improper business relationships with litigants Convicted & Removed
George W. English District Judge (IL) 1926 Abuse of power Resigned before trial
Harold Louderback District Judge (CA) 1932 Favoritism in bankruptcy cases Acquitted
Halsted L. Ritter District Judge (FL) 1936 Financial impropriety, practicing law while a judge Convicted & Removed
Harry E. Claiborne District Judge (NV) 1986 Tax evasion Convicted & Removed
Alcee Hastings District Judge (FL) 1988 Perjury and bribery Convicted & Removed
Walter Nixon District Judge (MS) 1989 Perjury before a grand jury Convicted & Removed
Samuel B. Kent District Judge (TX) 2009 Sexual assault Resigned before trial
G. Thomas Porteous District Judge (LA) 2010 Corruption and perjury Convicted & Removed

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